


OTP. Or: What People Say About Us on the Internet

by JaneShadow



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Meta, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-08-23 23:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16628774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneShadow/pseuds/JaneShadow
Summary: Lena discovers that people have been writing about her "on the internet". More specifically, they have been writing about her, romantically involved, with Supergirl. She rushes to Kara to look for a solution to get this to stop and go away. That's when Kara discovers that it's not only Lena/Supergirl that the writers are shipping.This is obviously a light fic, very tongue-in-cheek with references to RPFs and fanfiction culture.





	1. Chapter 1

“People are writing stories about me on the internet.” Lena Luthor exploded as she burst through the door of her best friend's apartment, holding a bottle of wine in one hand.

Kara barely had time to move aside in the entryway so the two women didn't collide. She slowly slid the door shut behind Ms Luthor. “Okay… good morning, I'm glad to see you, let's talk about it.”

Lena was comfortable in this apartment; she visited at least once a week, for game nights and movie nights and dinners. This was, however, the first time that she had pounded on the door and burst in at 6am. She set the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter and mumbled something about habits, then spun on her heel with both her hands in midair. “Where's your laptop?!” She demanded in an exasperated tone. “You have to see this. There are _hundreds_ of them.”

“Um.” Kara glanced around the living space, covering a yawn with the back of one hand. “Here.” She gestured to the coffee table and Lena was immediately moving across the room, throwing herself onto the couch with urgency. The blonde took a seat beside her and reached out to open the computer.

They were an odd sight of opposites sitting side by side; Kara was disheveled in her two piece flannel pajamas covered in pastry-eating-puppies, her hair in a loose bun held together by chopsticks. Lena was dressed for work (or just life?) in a black pencil skirt with a pale blue camisole and two button blazer. Their contrast wasn't unfamiliar though, Kara was typically far more casual than her CEO friend, albeit not quite this much so. The one thing about them that did match were their focused expressions as they leaned toward the coffee table, staring intently at the open computer screen.

“Okay so, I was trying to find something. I googled ‘Lena Luthor and Supergirl’ and look at this.” Lena repeated the actions she was describing on the laptop, typing it in as she described, then gestured toward the screen, pointing at the search results wildly.

Kara squinted at the small text, reading aloud a link. “Lena Luthor slash Supergirl RPF. What's RPF?”

“You don't want to know. I wish that I didn't know. But I googled it and now there's no going back.”

The reporter scrunched her nose at this, but her mind instantly went to the familiar. “Are these blogs? Or some kinda underground news sites, publishing speculation about you? I could probably get those shut down!”

Lena scoffed loudly. “I wish! That would be easy to deal with!” Without trying to explain further, she leaned in and clicked the first link, then picked up the computer and handed it to her friend. “Here. Read a little.”

Kara pulled her legs up under her and set the computer on her lap. She scrolled and read, scanning through the website. Lena watched seriously, waiting for a sign that it had ‘clicked’ as it had for her just a few hours before.

“Oh… my.” Kara almost whispered, a flush building from her chest to her eyeballs, presumably. “This is…” she shook her head a few times, unable to find the words to finish.

“Right? It's unbelievable. It's unfathomable.” The brunette's voice began rising with a determined sort of anger.

Ms Danvers looked at it briefly, then shook her head again. “Who is doing this? And why?!”

“Well, the why part is easy to figure out. I've always been in the public spotlight. I'm used to speculation on my private life from tabloids, they make a quick dollar that way. But that's not what this is. This is someone-”

“Writing their own story about you. About _you.”_ Kara scrolled to the end and looked for clues to who the individual might be. “Maybe we could request this webpage be shut down? This has to be illegal!”

Lena sighed dejectedly. “I checked with my lawyers before I even came over here. They said this ‘real person fiction’ stuff is all over the internet and acknowledging it would only draw attention to it. They said it's best to pretend it doesn't exist so no one else will go looking for it.”

“Sure, that makes sense, for PR.” The blonde gave the most reassuring look that she could manage, trying to ease the negativity of the situation. “So what are you going to do?”

The darker woman shrugged. “That's why I'm here. I thought you might have an idea that I couldn't think of.” Her eyes were filled with optimistic longing.

“Me? I don't, I don't know. I agree it sounds like bad press to try and attack this but…” Kara was lost in thought for a moment, still holding the computer in her lap, as if she had been frozen in place. Suddenly her eyebrows shot up. “Ooh! What if Supergirl had a boyfriend?! I could write some fluffy things about her and a mysterious boyfriend, planning romantic getaways, and people would see that she's not a… that you're not… that she's with someone. So she can't be _with_ you.”

“First off, how would you convince Supergirl to let her make up a fake boyfriend and put that in print? Second, do you think that would make them stop writing about me?” Lena pointed accusingly at the computer. “They might stop writing about Supergirl but she's only one half of it. What about me?”

Kara sighed rapidly as though she couldn't quite catch her breath. “Supergirl would probably want to protect her own privacy and reputation by discouraging this sort of thing, too. I bet she could be talked into it. And as far as I can see, all of these stories from different people focus around you being… _romantic_ with Supergirl. Take her out of the equation, there's no more story to write.” At the mention of this romance, the blonde could feel herself once again starting to blush. She tried to fight it and hoped desperately that it didn't show.

“Okay, let's call that plan A, for now. It's indirect, doesn't draw attention to me, and might slow down these writers. Or maybe it would cause the readers to lose interest.”

As if triggered by that, the reporter clicked a few times on her mouse pad. She frowned. “There are a _lot_ of readers. Some of these have thousands of hits.”

Lena groaned, flopping over against the back of the couch. “I know. I know. What is the appeal to them? How can so many people be into this idea about my life?!”

There was no response from Kara, only more clicking as she dug further into the website, trying to discover something useful.

“I've had all kinds of paparazzi experiences,” Lena continued wistfully, looking up at the ceiling, “my privacy is invaded on a frequent basis, I'd say. I've had depraved questions asked of me, especially about my brother. But I never thought anyone would… fantasize about who they want me to be with.”

“Oh fuck my life!” Kara suddenly, uncharacteristically screamed. Her hands jolted to fling the laptop onto the couch and immediately to cover her mouth in shock. Her eyes were wide as they stared at the offending screen, now sideways between the two women.

“What is it?!” Ms. Luthor grabbed at the computer to see for herself.

“No!” The blonde shouted, sticking her hands out in protest. “Don't look at it!”

Of course, Kara could have used her speed or her strength to bat away the laptop in a nanosecond of time, but that would have only destroyed it completely, and she still would have had to explain her reaction. Lena wasn't about to ignore that significant outburst; there was nothing to do except let her see it for herself, now.

Lena's eyes were trained on the open webpage, which had only a few paragraphs of text. She read for a long moment, and then seemed to start again and read it once more. “Oh.” Was all she said, in a near whisper. If it weren't for Kara's super hearing, it might not even have been audible to her at all.

Internally Kara was screaming at herself to think about something (anything) else to fight off the blush, but it was really no use. She gave up resisting and resigned to cover her face with her hands, groaning into them.

It was quiet, for several seconds, that felt like hours.

Lena cleared her throat. “It could be another female journalist.”

“Um. Sure.” Kara mumbled through her fingers. It was sarcastic, but then again, neither one of them were fooled about who the blonde journalist in the stories was referring to.

Another few long seconds passed. Lena set the laptop back on the coffee table and gently closed it, as if it were a sleeping beast that might attack them both; in this case, it sort of was.

“What's an OTP, do you suppose?” Ms Luthor asked genuinely, staring ahead at nothing in particular. Her cheeks were their usual tone, no signs of blushing like her best friend, but her embarrassment showed nonetheless in the way she was avoiding all potential for eye contact.

“I'm afraid to find out. Probably something humiliating.”

Lena seemed to regard this for a moment, before making a decision. “Siri,” she said into her watch, “define OTP, from fiction writing.”

The watch stated, in it's robotic voice: “ _OTP, or one true pairing, is used to describe the one couple that the writer believes is destined to be in a relationship, or meant to be together_ _above all others._ ”

“Oh.” Lena whispered again. “I see.”

Kara didn't necessarily do it purposefully, but she found herself using her super hearing, and scanning outside her apartment for signs of something (anything) that could give her a reason to escape. It was always dead quiet in the early morning, especially for crime, but she desperately listened for even the most minor of emergencies. She also wished more than ever that she had shared her identity with Lena by now, so that she could claim there _was_ an emergency, and jump right out the fucking window. Then she remembered, she did have an excuse, but it would make her feel like a huge insensitive jerk to use it.

“I should probably get ready for work.” The reporter mumbled, immediately regretting saying it.

“Yeah, of course.” Lena replied sans emotion, standing up from the couch rigidly. “Let's just talk later.”

“I'm sorry.”

“No, it's fine.” The brunette said with a hollow, unreadable tone. She was already halfway across the apartment. “We'll talk later. Thanks for your help.”

Kara lifted her head and turned toward the door, which her friend was already unlatching. “I'll help more later, I promise. I'm sorry.” She almost shouted that last apology, as Lena Luthor disappeared through the door and swung it shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I must give this disclaimer: I have not read every Supergirl fic that exists, there are simply too many. So when I described fics and author names in this chapter, I did all of it out of my own imagination! Any resemblance to fics is 100% coincidental and an accident. Hopefully the ideas I came up with don't actually exist (that would be embarrassing)! If they do, and you are uncomfortable with that, let me know and I will edit the chapter.

Despite using work as an excuse, Kara ended up calling in at 9am to say she was working a story and wouldn't be in for a few days. Her next call was to her sister, Alex.

“Hey, do you know what OTP and RPF mean?” Kara blurted out as soon as her sister answered the phone.

“Um, is it from rap music? And what did I tell you about trying to google things first before you call to ask me?”

Kara rolled her eyes, a useless gesture since there was no one to witness it. “I already googled them. Well, Lena googled them, actually. She was showing me femmeslash, do you know what that is?”

There was a short but noticeable pause. “Yeah. Yeah I know what that is. Why does  _ Lena _ know what that is? And why the hell was she  _ showing _ you?”

The blonde took a deep breath to brace herself, and then blurted out all the words as fast as she could say them, like pulling off a bandaid (not that she'd ever needed one of those). “Lena was looking for things online and found femmeslash about her and Supergirl and I was trying to help get info about it so we could destroy it and then I found the category of Lena slash reporter girl and it's everyone's OTP and there are thousands of stories about me and Lena doing  _ stuff _ and I think she's mad at me and some of them use my real name in them but mostly they call me reporter girl and all of them describe us having sex.”

No response.

“Alex? Hello?”

Silence.

“Are you there?”

“Yes.”

Kara had been absentmindedly pacing in her living room, still in her pajamas, but she suddenly stopped and slumped into a chair. “Okay, well, I need your help! Do you have some insider lesbian information on what to do about this?”

“What? No!” The agent raised her voice indignantly. “This doesn't have anything to do with being a lesbian! Believe me, this is not a normal problem. I mean, holy shit, I thought people just wrote these things about characters. Like… Spencer and Ashley.”

“Who are they? Do I know them?” 

“Probably not. It's not important.” Alex sighed heavily, groaning a little as she did. “Anyway, I don't think anyone can do anything about it, except maybe ignore it. To be honest, the internet is full of this stuff. You should try not to obsess about it and pretend you never saw it. There's too much of it to make it go away.”

“But… why? Why are people writing about me, Alex? I understand the Supergirl stuff. Well, I don't really understand it, but, I knew people liked Supergirl and might want to write about her.” Kara slouched down further in her chair, hanging her legs over one armrest and laying her head on the other. “I like writing things about Supergirl, it's fun. She attracts a lot of attention. But I don't attract attention! I'm just… Me.”

“Mmhmm,” Alex mumbled, deep in thought, “I'm assuming Luthor has lawyers all over this to see if it can be destroyed, as slander or something?”

“That's who she called first.”

“Right. Well…” another thoughtful pause, “maybe try to avoid being anywhere with her that paparazzi might take photos? Or anywhere the public would see you?”

The blonde huffed loudly. “That's not fair! Why should we stop doing special friend things together just because people imagine that we're dating?! I can't help what they imagine!”

Alex tried to backtrack with her suggestion, gently explaining that she only thought the two women should lay low for a while, perhaps keeping their interactions limited to places where they wouldn't be easily identified. Kara didn't know why this concept angered her so much; she considered maybe she hated the idea of losing her freedom, but she could feel that it was something more than that. There was an uncomfortable nagging in the back of her mind that was setting her even more on edge. Outwardly she remained reserved; she thanked her sister for the ideas and promised to consider them, before hanging up.

In the three hours since Lena had left her apartment abruptly, Kara had done everything she could think of to keep her mind occupied. She had been obsessively cleaning, eating, organizing, and eating some more. She was both avoiding and itching for the same thing simultaneously: to read whatever those stories were. Calling Alex had been her last resort option, and now she was out of distractions and out of ideas for how to make “them” disappear.

She had looked at them, but only enough to grasp the concept. She had seen titles, descriptions, and excerpts. She had seen enough to know that they were almost exclusively romantic and some of them contained her real name.

But she hadn't _ read  _ them.

It felt a bit like cracking open a lover's diary when her resolve finally broke. Kara drew the blinds and checked to see the door was locked, for extra measure. She wanted no one to know ( _ ever _ ) what she was about to do. She settled down onto her couch, pulling a blanket over her lap, and placing the laptop on it. She logged into a VPN and opened an “incognito” window in her browser (something she usually did if she was looking up reports or info about Supergirl that Kara “wouldn’t know”). She set her phone on the other end of the couch so there was no chance she could accidentally touch it and somehow, through a freakish series of impossible accidents, alert someone to what she was up to. How, exactly? She wasn’t sure, but stranger things had happened.

In the browser, Kara typed “Lena Luthor femmeslash OTP” and hit enter.

The first two links were sites filled with Lena/Supergirl RPFs, which made Kara involuntarily cringe. The third link was a webpage called “The Paradigm Luthor”, and the description below read “Lena has one thing that keeps her honest, and good, and grounded. It is what sets her apart from the other Luthors. It is the woman she loves. OTP Lena/Reporter Girl.”

It felt shameful, terrifying, and dangerous, but Kara Danvers braced herself and clicked the link.

She had expected to find something similar to what she had uncovered on the other website, earlier that morning. The site Lena pulled up had been a series of stories, with brief descriptions, in a massive database. What she did not expect was a complete repository of  _ every _ kind of media related to Lena and her, together. It was not simply a text based blog of stories, it was… a complete experience. It was like a museum archive vault of ALL THINGS KARA AND LENA.

Most of the main content were things she had seen before, but altered slightly. Paparazzi photos of Lena taken when Kara had been nearby, or just at the edge of the picture. But someone had circled  _ both of them  _ with red ink and written things on the photos, such as “Always by your side” and “Right here waiting”. There was one picture of the two of them, walking and laughing, that Kara had been cropped out of when it was sold to US Weekly. It was a good shot of Lena, and so she had seen it dozens of times, but never seen her own smiling face included in the full frame. Predictably, someone had filled all the empty space around the two of them with little hearts and heart-eye emojis.

Kara felt a knot form in her stomach and she quickly browsed through the page menus, looking for the written works. She saw a link titled “Fics” and remembered seeing that somewhere on the other site; it successfully lead her to exactly what she was looking for.

For the next two hours, Kara read. She read, and read, and read. She read a story where Lena surprised her with flowers (alarmingly real) but then revealed herself to be a cyborg with human skin (awkward). She read about Lena in an “alternate universe” where she was an orphan in high school, scared and alone without a family and finding love in “Reporter Girl”. She read about herself being broke and homeless (really?) so Lena saved her by buying her a huge house in the country, then they got pregnant via a magic portal and fell in love. That one was particularly weird. Kara started feeling relieved that maybe these authors didn’t know anything at all about either of the women, and there was nothing threatening about these works of fiction. After all, their personas were extremely altered, so technically the stories could have been about  _ anyone. _

Then she read something different. 

It was simple, and kind of short compared to the others. There was no elaborate plot device, or set-up, or trope. It didn’t try to infer into Lena or Kara’s lives much beyond the public knowledge: they were best friends, they spent time together, they worked together, and they were close. But somehow the author had captured their true personalities, and the dynamic of their friendship, pretty accurately. It reminded her of their real relationship. Then the story went on to tell about this feeling that grew between them. The author “WillowFrozenbomb” described it as “softness, tenderness, and longing”. Through pages of exposition, this feeling grew from a seed in their friendship, to a complete mutual attraction and deep, meaningful connection. By the end, they both realized that they had much more between them than they had admitted, and they expressed it in a climactic, passionate kiss.

Kara calmly closed the laptop and stared straight ahead.

She took a series of long, deep breaths. That nagging feeling she’d had earlier was gone, replaced by something else; a warm pressure in her chest. She almost felt as if she couldn’t breathe, but not in an alarming way. It was a lot like that explosive feeling of walking down the hall on Christmas morning and seeing the lights and presents under the tree, and you just stop in your tracks.

She sat like this, holding this feeling, not understanding it, for several long minutes.

Finally, she checked the clock: five minutes past noon, so Kara supposed it was time that she got up, showered, and actually did real work. She set the laptop on the coffee table and took a long stretch, her body reaching across the couch. She grabbed her phone and unlocked it.

One missed call. Seventeen emails. Three text messages.

The missed call: Lena.

The emails: work.

First text message, Alex: “I was thinking even if you didn’t get real lawyers, you could send an email saying you’re a lawyer, and tell those sites to cease and desist. They will be scared! Let’s try it!”

Second text message, work: “Can you cover a piece on high school football hero with diabetes?”

Third text message, Lena: “Can you call me ASAP? Or just come over. Want to talk.”

  
As much as Kara felt confident of the order that she  _ should _ prioritize her responses, her heart seemed to jump into her throat reading that Lena needed her. With her super speed she was dressed in five seconds and out her door, on the way to L-Corp.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Kara showed herself in to Lena's office, only to find that the CEO wasn't there. She quickly focused on her super hearing, letting it bring in voices from the building in a wave, then she methodically “removed” the wrong voices until she could isolate one. There was Lena, talking about an “unfair drone regulation” somewhere, nearby. Satisfied, the reporter had a seat and sent off a quick text: “in your office, see you soon”.

Waiting was somewhat excruciating. Was Lena angry with her? Did she blame her for these stories? Would she want the two of them to stop being friends so the fans would have no new material? Kara had agonized over this the whole way to L-Corp but now her anxiety about it was practically screaming in her ear. The more she thought about it, the more she felt a tight ball forming in her stomach, and believed with certainty that she should expect the worst. 

Kara began anticipating their conversation and trying to imagine it, so she could be prepared with every possible response. She didn't like being caught off guard, and frankly wasn't used to it (due to her powers). 

It had been about ten minutes of this internal torture, when Lena came swooping in through the door. “Hi Kara, I'm sorry about that! How long have you been waiting?” She fell gracefully into the chair a few feet away, angling her body in the seat so she was facing her best friend. 

“Oh, just a few minutes. It's totally fine.” Kara smiled warmly and scanned the other woman's face for signs of her emotions, finding only a polite reciprocal smile, that didn't give much away.

“Oh good. I texted you and then the FAA showed up to try and slap us with some kind of restricted airspace violation for our drones. I was stuck with those suits for two hours before they were convinced the drones weren't even ours!”

Kara nodded. She had a really good story about the FAA trying to “teach” her where to fly so she didn't distort their radar imaging, but that happened only to Supergirl, not Kara Danvers, so she bit her tongue.

“Anyway,” Lena continued with a weighty sigh, “I was glad for the brief distraction. It gave me a chance to get a break from the whole… Lenarg thing. So I was able to relax and realize, this doesn't have to bother me if I don't let it.”

The blonde’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Sorry, what now? Lenarg? I don't follow.”

“Oh, I thought you saw.” Lena's gaze suddenly darted to a random spot on the floor, between them. “They combined our names, the writers. Uh, I suppose to make hashtags easier? It's my name and 'rg’ at the end, for… Reporter Girl.” Ms Luthor looked almost ashamed to be saying this out loud. 

“Wow. All that creativity and they couldn't come up with a better name for me?* Kara ribbed, leaning forward with a large grin to try and catch her friend's eye again. 

It worked well. Lena broke out into a genuine, albeit uneasy, laugh. “Definitely. And how hard is it to find out your real name? It's on every article you write. One of the fics I read kept referring to you as 'Karla’. Who proofreads these? They spent dozens of hours writing but didn't take five minutes to Google you?”

Kara chuckled but felt a wave of reservation as she realized the deeper meaning behind those words. Lena had just admitted that she had been reading the stories. Not just the stories about Supergirl, but the stories about  _ them. The real them.  _ Maybe she had read the same fics that Kara had. Maybe she had read  _ that one _ .

The brunette seemed to sense the wheels turning incessantly in her best friend's mind. “Are you uncomfortable with all of this? It's really strange, I know. I suppose it isn't bothering me now, but it definitely threw me off, this morning. I was really concerned at first about violations of privacy and slander. But after researching I realized it's not malicious and it's probably some of the nicest things in print about me; excepting what you write, of course. I'm sorry if it's upsetting to you.” 

“No, it's okay.” Kara blurted out, mostly as an unplanned reaction. “Well, it's not  _ okay _ , but you're right, it's not malicious. I read some of it too, actually. It was mostly generic stuff, not necessarily about the real us, at all. I just don't want this to change our friendship.” She tried not to let her voice give away how much she was seeking affirmation with those words, but her voice broke a little and betrayed her.

Lena tossed up both hands and rolled her head back slightly. “Ugh, right?! I'm so relieved to hear you say that! I was afraid you might be weirded out and want to avoid me. It would be so unfair if we didn't keep all the great stuff we have together because of strangers opinions. I would have thrown a fit if something like this came between us.”

“No way. You'll never lose me.” 

The brunette grinned widely at this, her green eyes instantly becoming vibrant and joyful. Kara returned the attention with her own bright smile. It was a moment; both of them gazing into each other's eyes. Both of them smiling, happily, together. Both of them fondly and warmly exchanging this energy of relief and connection. 

It lasted just an extra second too long; in that one extra second, all of a sudden the words from the fic came rushing back into Kara's brain. “Softness, tenderness, and longing”. It was enough to make the girl glance away, abruptly, racking her brain for a way to change the subject so she couldn't hear any more untimely input from her thoughts.

“Uhh… Alex said we could pretend to be lawyers and send the sites a cease and desist letter, like fake-threaten to sue them.”

Lena sputtered something, then choked. She coughed a few times into her elbow. “Alex?!” She gasped out, between coughs. “You told your sister? Oh my god. Did she  _ read _ it?!”

“No! I'm sure she wouldn't. She would definitely not want to do that. I wouldn't ever want to read something like that about  _ her _ .” Kara shook her head as if she could banish the idea forever from her mind.

“Fuck, I hope so. I'd rather have my toenails ripped off than know your sister read some of that _ smut _ about us.”

“Yeah…” Kara agreed, the words not registering fully. “Wait. What?! There's smut? What do you mean?”

Lena raised one eyebrow with an air of disbelief. “Did you not see the abundance of smut?”

The blonde shook her head 'no’.

“Not even 'Lenarg forever’? The ‘Luthor Red Room’? Or 'Lena and Supergirl and Reporter Girl’?” Lena was saying this as though it should ring as some type of reminder, but Kara continued shaking her head, her mouth slightly hanging open in shock. “Oh okay. Well, from what I gathered in my research, those are some of the most popular stories, with the highest number of followers. I was filtering by views, and I suppose the most popular works were… more graphic.”

Kara had closed her mouth, but she was still shocked and it was registering on her face. She was partially shaken at the mere idea of the existence of smut, involving the two of them, but equally thrown by how casually Lena was recounting this information to her.

“Wow, I feel like I'm really making everything worse, and you're probably so much more embarrassed now.” Lena speculated, reading the heavy air in the room between them.

Kara wanted to say that it was okay, again, but she was starting to feel like it really wasn't okay. What if her sister did read some of that? Or what if other people found it, and believed that she had something to do with it? Though she knew she could trust her best friend's judgment about what to do, and Lena didn't seem worried or even concerned.

The blonde tried to lighten the mood by making an exaggerated concerned face, puffing out her cheeks. They both giggled quietly.

“It's embarrassing, yes. But hopefully no one I know will ever stumble across it.” Kara crossed her arms and slumped further into the chair.

“If they did, you could make a pretty good argument to ask why the hell they are searching for gay smut about real people, in the first place.” She articulated this point by waving her finger in the air.

Kara shrugged with one shoulder, then looked to her friend with a serious intention. “I'm sorry if there's anything I did that encouraged this to happen, or maybe brought it on. I sometimes forget how much you're always in the limelight, and I'm not mindful of the public watching.”

Ms Luthor was waving her hand dismissively to brush off the words, but wasn't given the chance to interject.

“I know we're just friends, and friends should be free to hang out all the time, and go to lunch, and dinner, and galas, and movies. And we could do all that without anyone finding it interesting, if you weren't  _ you _ . So I feel naive, like I should have realized… it looks like we're dating, to people who don't know us. And people care about how that looks, because you're basically a celebrity.” 

Lena had stopped swatting and she placed her elbows on her knees, leaning forward. She took a deep breath, then stood and walked the few steps between her chair and Kara's. Standing immediately in front of the other woman, Lena lowered herself and took a knee, then reached out with both her hands. Kara appeared perplexed but she reached out with her right hand slowly, and Lena immediately wrapped it into hers.

The brunette gazed up sincerely into her best friend's eyes. “Kara, please, never again try to accept blame for something that isn't your fault. Especially when your intentions are so good, and so loving, and so, so kind.” She squeezed the hand between hers, which squeezed back, before she continued. “You have so much love to give. You have shown me so much love, and such incredible friendship. Never let anyone stifle that, because they want to change you.”

“Thank you.”. Kara replied in a near-whisper. She looked deeply into the kind, loving green eyes, finding such openness there. It filled her with warmth in her chest that radiated outward, and an excited bounding feeling low in her stomach. She often got that fluttering sensation around Lena, which was why she loved spending time with her, so much. 

Lena stood, and gently pulled the hand she was holding, bringing Kara to her feet as well. She gave one more slight tug to bring them closer, and both women immediately wrapped up one another into a comfortable, familiar embrace. Kara closed her eyes tightly and savored the comforting, wonderful sensation of her best friend's body snugly against hers. 

Lena turned her head toward Kara's ear, and neck, her mouth barely an inch away. “I don't ever want anything to come between us.” She said softly.

The Super squeezed a little harder, careful not to do it with full strength. “Nothing ever will.”


	4. Chapter 4

One week had passed since Lena discovered the real person femmeslash, which she and her best friend Kara now comfortably referred to as “Lenarg”. In that week, the two best friends had intentionally resolved to conduct business as usual: shopping, lunches, movie nights, they had even seen a play. But Kara reflected that this was actually more than business as usual, for them, and more than once they'd been recognized in public together. Sure, they always tried to make time for each other, but work and other ambitious commitments often got in the way. Some weeks they were lucky to see each other once, but this past week they had spent every single day together. Not that she minded or would ever complain. It had been wonderful to finally have the kind of time with her best friend that Kara suspected they would get, if not for the demands of L-Corp and Supergirl.

Speaking of the superhero, Kara had been thinking a lot about finally telling Lena the truth. It was ludicrous to share everything with someone, to be so close, and not to trust them with who you really are. After all, Kara had basically told Cat, or at least not fought it at all when she assumed. Lena meant so much more to her than Cat did, and the super knew deep down that this was a woman she could trust, even with her life.

She planned how she was going to do it. She knew that Lena hated ( _ hated)  _ being told in advance that they were going to talk about something; it made her anxious and gave others an illusion of power over her (her words). So Kara wouldn't give any precursor, she would just invite Ms Luthor over for take out and a scary movie. During scary movies, they always started out on separate ends of the couch, but after enough frightening or tense scenes, Lena would end up cuddled tightly in Kara's arms. It would be during one of these particularly scary moments that Kara would whisper “Don't be scared, I can always protect you... I'm Supergirl.”

It was cheesy. She  _ knew _ it was cheesy. Even with all the human social nuances that were lost on Kara, she was aware that this was a silly way to tell someone a huge secret that might change your entire relationship with them.

But she also knew Lena, very well. She knew that if she made this too dramatic or if her own anxiety was high, it would certainly seed into a negative reaction. 

There was a strong chance that Lena would be furious, no matter how she broke the news. She would be hurt that Kara had kept this secret, and she would likely be angry, considering that Lena and Supergirl's relationship was nowhere near as close and friendly anymore, as it used to be. But Kara believed if she kept it light, she had a better chance of spinning the conversation positively, and not pushing her best friend away. Hopefully.

It was time to test how much she meant it when Lena promised that nothing would ever come between them.

Kara sent the text: “Hey scary movie night tomorrow? :) My place. I'll order food”

Lena's reply shortly after: “absolutely, I love scary movies with you.”

Kara grinned widely at her phone screen. She was proud already of her excellent idea for setting this up. 

A minute later though, her phone vibrated again. She had another message, from Lena: “could you please ask our special friend to come by? I need to speak with her.”

The blondes stomach tightened; what could Lena need from Supergirl? There hadn't been any recent danger, in fact the last week had been peaceful for her superhero alter ego. And things between them lately had been very strained. It would be a relief if they could finally talk openly, with her identity divulged. 

Kara quickly fired off an affirmative text, and changed clothes at super speed. 

* * *

 

Supergirl landed stealthily on the balcony of Lena Luthor's office at L-Corp, scanning the space immediately for the woman who requested her. The patio door had been left wide open, expectantly, and as Supergirl entered, she found Lena at her desk.

“That was an incredibly fast response!” Lena remarked with surprise, standing up to walk toward the super.

“It was a slow day, fortunately.” She folded her arms and stood tall in the center of the room, unintentionally intimidating. “Kara Danvers said you wanted to speak to me.”

“Do you want to sit down?” Lena gestured to the practical, cubish loveseat in her office and each woman wordlessly took a place on either side.

There was an awkward silence. Supergirl half-wished she would have told Lena she was busy and couldn't talk until later, if she would have known this was going to be a  _ thing _ . It felt so weird to be there, as Supergirl, with all this strange tension, when Kara and Lena were so comfortable. This was an even greater contrast to how close the two friends felt for the past week. Supergirl and Lena had made great strides to overcome their broken trust, but something  _ gross _ still hung in the air between them. It was why Kara had intentionally spent as much time as possible with her friend as herself, and avoided being Supergirl around her, unless there was life-saving emergencies to deal with.

“So, do you know what Supercorp is?” Lena asked, breaking the silence.

The blonde internally debated how to react. Kara knew what Supercorp was, she had seen it a few times while she was reading Lenarg fiction. Would Supergirl know it, though? She supposed that maybe Kara would have told her. “Yes, I've come across it.” She admitted.

Lena's shoulders relaxed, she seemed relieved at the news. “Oh good, the hard part was going to be breaking it to you. See, I only recently found out about this… fan material. I'm afraid that I've been a central subject for a lot of the attention. But of course, so have you.”

The blonde nodded. She wasn't deliberately avoiding the CEO's green eyes, but she found she couldn't help scanning the room, repeatedly.

“Did you read any of it?” Lena probed, her voice softening.

Supergirl's eyebrows shot up. “Uh, not really. I don't have time for reading lately.” She said, trying to speed up the conversation and get to the point. Needless to say, talking about Supercorp fiction was not at all what Kara expected she was ‘needed’ for. 

“Oh.” Ms Luthor sighed. “That's kind of a shame. Some of it is surprisingly well-written. And accurate. It's almost like they know us better than we know ourselves.”

This statement immediately set Supergirl's hair on end. Was Lena trying to trick her into admitting something? Was there something revealing about her powers or her identity, in the stories? Did one of the stories share her weaknesses? If Lena had discovered something dangerous, why was she approaching it so coyly? “I'd appreciate you being upfront with me, if you think someone is trying to harm either of us with this information.” 

Lena looked taken aback, maybe even hurt? 

Supergirl realized her tone was too harsh, and she quickly corrected. “Listen, I know things have been rough between the two of us. But I still trust you. I still believe in you. You are still my friend. If you are afraid of how I'll react, don't be. I know you're not behind the Supercorp works, so if they put either of us in danger, I need to know.” She looked now directly into the other woman's eyes. “If anything puts you in danger, especially, you have to always tell me.”

The brunette shook her head. “No, it isn't that. I mean, I appreciate you saying all that. I know that I can tell you anything I need to, and I know you'll always protect this city, and protect me. You’ve proven that to me, regardless of anything that has happened between us. But no… I don't think these stories are dangerous. I think they are simply, revealing.”

Supergirl relaxed even more. “Oh, what do you mean? Revealing of what?”

Lena scooted closer on the couch, until their legs were barely an inch apart. “At first, I thought the writers were silly to imagine there would be anything between us. Of course, we are only friends. In most ways, we are simply two people, working toward the same goals. But then, I realized, there are thousands of these stories. There must be something they are seeing, that we are missing.”

The energy between them was suddenly buzzing, and Supergirl felt reactively alert. She had been this close or closer to Lena, physically, more times than she could count. But this was electric, like sitting on the edge of a supernova and taking your chances. She couldn't help but reflect on how much this conversation paralleled the one that Kara and Lena had, only one week before. Both of them took place in Lena's office. Both of them were about discovering they were subjects of femmeslash. But where that conversation quickly went into a territory of disregarding those messages and remaining friends, this conversation was going… where, exactly?

Supergirl shook her head slightly. “Lena, I don't understand what you're trying to say.”

“I'm saying… what if they're right? What if they see how amazing that we could be together, and we are ignoring it? What if we could be everything they talk about. You, saving the world. Me, proving that people are more than their family and reputation. Us, together? The most unstoppable duo.” Lena slid closer still so their thighs were flush together and she placed her hand confidently on Supergirl's forearm. 

Supergirl laughed, nervously. “Well, of course. We are a great team.” She reached over to give a friendly little pat to the hand resting on her arm. “We can do more, together, than we can apart!”

Lena gave a half-smile. Her fingertips moved slowly, brushing back and forth between the blonde’s wrist and elbow. “You are so adorable. I can’t believe I never noticed.”

“Thank you, but… it’s probably just because I’m so noticable, being an alien and all.” Her voice cracked in pitch slightly. “Uh… so what kind of teamwork project do you have in mind? Did you get an idea from the stories of something really positive we could do, together?

“Mmhmm.” Lena nodded lightly, her chin dipped forward and her voice dropping lower than before. “I think we should try all of it. You and I, and then we will know if they are right, about us.”

Supergirl stammered. “Lena, I-I don’t-”

“Maybe you don't see this yet. But  _ thousands _ of people do. I do. We'd be foolish not to at least try…” 

Lena’s green eyes glanced at the other woman for permission then fell shut. She leaned in, her lips parted just slightly. Her lips that were now shockingly close, so Kara could feel warm breath against her own mouth. Right there, the brunette paused for only a second, hovering in Supergirl’s immediate space, about to touch-

“Holy shit!” The super blurted out, practically shouting it, as she leapt up from the couch. “Uh, there’s an emergency! A car! A fire!” She rubbed her sweating palms on her thighs.

“Supergirl, wait!” Lena exclaimed, jumping up and reaching out. “I’m sorry, don’t leave.”

“It’s actually a car fire! I have to go!”

Lena extended her fingertips toward the super to gently touch her elbow, but felt only the rapid brush of fabric, so fast it nearly rubbed the skin right off. There was a blur of red and blue through the patio door. 

In that instant: Supergirl was completely gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Kara Danvers threw herself into any distractions that she could. She called her sister Alex and asked if DEO could send something her way to do. Guard protests? Stop a war? Scared Straight programs for teenagers?

Alex seemed confused by the sudden request. “Did you try sending that fake cease and desist email that we talked about? You're being weird, does this have something to do with the fan fiction?”

Kara wanted to throw the phone across the room, but instead she calmly said “I'm going to patrol the city. Let me know if you have work for me to do.” And hung up.

Usually flying cleared the super's head, but this afternoon it did nothing except force her to focus even more on that morning's baffling events.

Lena had tried to kiss her. Lena Luthor had tried to kiss Supergirl. Lena Kieran Luthor, billionaire, brilliant, gorgeous, powerful, kind, and noble, had tried to kiss Supergirl, the alien defender of National City.

But she hadn't tried to kiss Kara Danvers.

Wait. Why did that matter?

Supergirl saw something tiny down below in the suburban neighborhood of the city. She zeroed in on what looked to be a very small child, alone, running fast. Finally, she was needed! There was help on the way! She flew straight down in a rapid dive, focused on nothing but the young boy. As she rocketed closer she could see that he was very near a street, and he was not slowing down! 

With an instant and brilliant whoosh, Supergirl swept the endangered toddler into her arms, flipped on her back to avoid hitting the ground, and hovered over the grass, cradling the blonde boy delicately.

“Again, again!” He exclaimed gleefully.

“What the fuck, it's Supergirl! Welcome to my house!” A woman's voice shouted. “Do you want coffee or anything?”

Supergirl turned toward the source of the voice to find what she could only presume was the boy's mother, standing not ten feet away, under a tree. The woman was wearing a forest green top and had dark auburn hair… which is what must have made her camouflaged against the foliage, from Supergirl's sky view.

The super slowly lowered the baby back into the grass, ignoring his persistent cries of “again! AGAAAIN!”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I thought he was running into the street.” Supergirl said, sheepishly.

“Nah, we were just playing outside. But he's always getting into danger, so you could stick-”

Feeling an uncharacteristic blush forming, Supergirl launched herself back into the air and flew straight toward her apartment.

This thing with Lena was too distracting. She couldn't even be a hero. She was going to have to try something different. She would attack the problem.

* * *

 

Alex Danvers sat on the couch in Kara's apartment, legs crossed, her computer open on her lap, holding a wine glass in one hand and a mouse in the other. Across the living room, Kara sat in a similar position in her favorite armchair, sans the wine.

“Okay,” Alex said, picking up from where an earlier conversation left off, “I just sent eight more emails to the Supercorp writers. Only 862 to go, probably.”

Kara shook her head. “It's probably fewer. Some of the people write more than one.”

“I know, I was kidding.” Alex quipped, rolling her eyes slightly. She paused to look up from the screen fully and change her tone, sounding more direct. “What's wrong, anyway? I thought this wasn't bothering you. When I saw you two days ago, you said that you'd decided these fics were harmless fun and you should leave them alone. Now you insist that we sit here, for hours, methodically trying to get every single one taken down? What changed?”

The adopted Danvers girl cringed, annoyed that her sister had to be so good at paying attention and so often calling things like she saw them. “I just think it's too much of a distraction now. This could start drawing a lot of attention to my identity.” Kara said it in a deadpan tone, trying not to reveal how much of a half-truth this was.

Alex scoffed, unconvinced, but returned to her emails with renewed focus.

The agreement they made when Kara asked her sister to come over was that they would dig up information on the real person fiction writers, use a fake email address, and send them all emails threatening legal action. They divided up the work: Alex was in charge of Supergirl stories, Kara was in charge of Reporter Girl stories. So far they had eaten a pizza, watched two episodes of House Hunters International, and sent all of twelve emails.

It was obvious that neither of the Danvers were dedicated to this cause, but for different reasons.

Kara liked the Reporter Girl stories, oddly. She couldn't put her finger on it, but they seemed sweet and wholesome. She still hadn't stumbled across the smut that Lena told her about, and she was starting to think that it wasn't a popular topic in the Lenarg works.

Supercorp, on the other hand, was Pandora's box.

Dildos, oral, fisting, flying masturbation, orgasm suits, alien tentacles, magical pregnancy, BDSM, foot fetishes, public sex, squirting, furries, and Kara wasn't sure but she thought one fic made it seem they were about to pee on each other so she closed that shit right away. 

It seemed the idea of Supergirl and Lena together was, for lack of a better term, a total fuckfest. Everyone was projecting their fantasies into the idea of these two powerful women, dominating National City and the bedroom (or the dressing room of Macy's) via the Internet. 

Kara wasn't totally naive, she knew people liked sex, but this was the kind of thing she wouldn't even admit to a close friend if she discovered it. Much less read it. She couldn't believe Lena told Supergirl that they should try all of this together.

Did she mean they should try the peeing stuff?!

Kara told herself that was why she was upset; and she was extremely upset. She had been alternating between rage, confusion, and despair all day long. She hated the fact that Lena tried to make a move on Supergirl, when it seemed so wrong. It ruined everything between them.

What would have happened if Supergirl had allowed the kiss, and reciprocated? Would they have started dating? Would Supergirl and Lena be a couple, and Kara Danvers would just be the forgotten, boring, plain buddy? How would Supergirl even have a real relationship with Lena, anyway? Supergirl didn't know how Lena liked to be cuddled during scary movies. Supergirl didn't know Lena's favorite Thai restaurant. Supergirl didn't know that Lena could never bluff at cards. 

Supergirl and Lena had nothing together. Nothing. They saved each other's lives, for the good of the city and to help other people. They were amicable.

But Lena wanted that more than she wanted a real connection with someone she shared everything with? That was dumb and pointless.

Besides that, what did Lena see in Supergirl that she didn't see in Kara? Sure, when she was in the suit she personified more confidence and power and probably allure. Was Ms Luthor truly that shallow?

A heavy sigh from Alex across the living room broke Kara away from her thoughts. “Are you even doing this, or am I the only one? You haven't typed a single letter since I got here. Can we please be done and watch Modern Family, now?”

Kara wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there lost in thought. On her computer screen was an image of her and Lena together, each holding a coffee cup, sitting at opposite sides of a cafe table. Their eyes were locked in on each other and both of them were laughing. Over their heads, a fan had written “Even I don't realize how much I love you” with hearts all around. She didn't know how long she had been ‘looking’ at it, thinking about that day, thinking about how frustrating it was that Lena didn't see this, thinking about how this was what real love would look like. Real love wasn't seeing each other only when there was danger. Real love wasn't flying someone back to their apartment and dropping them off, on the patio. Real love was holding someone when they cried and remembering every important date to them and filling their office with flowers and thinking about them every minute and wanting to be around them every spare opportunity and…

Oh, fuck.

“Oh, fuck.” Kara gasped aloud.

“What?” Alex asked, alarmed. “Did we mess something up?”

“I…” Kara wasn't sure what the words would be that came out of her mouth, next. They just sort of fell out, without her knowledge beforehand. “I'm in love with a woman.”

The brunette's eyes seemed to shoot open farther than possible. “What? Oh my god. Who?”

Why was she saying this out loud? Why was she telling Alex? Why couldn't she stop herself? Her tongue just moved, on it's own, with no regard for the rest of Kara's wellbeing. “Lena. I'm in love with Lena.”

There was a notable pause. The room was silent as the two women stared, both in shock. Kara slowly reached a hand up to cover her mouth, disbelieving at the words she had just said. That had been her voice. Her very own voice said, she was in love with Lena. Luthor.

Alex suddenly shrugged. “Oh, yeah. I thought you were going to tell me something else.” She wiggled back into a slouch, pulling the computer further up on her lap. “Like, everyone already knows that. Except you, apparently.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major bonus points if you can guess the movie they're watching!

Kara didn't think she'd ever been in love before. If it was anything like she had read in Lenarg fics, then she definitely hadn't felt it. Not even with Mon-El. Sure, they shared respect for each other and he was familiar, comfortable, and safe. She had loved things about being with him, especially knowing that he could take care of himself and she didn't have to worry about him when they were apart. Earth was so dangerous for humans. She could save them from bullets and train derailments and explosions, only to have them get into a car accident the very next day. It was exhausting, and it was terrifying to love a human. Especially to love one this much.

Lena was so fragile, from Kara's perspective. Even moreso because Kara was constantly thinking of ways that Lena needed protecting. Lena's safety had been a standard preoccupation for her since they had first met. 

Maybe that was why it had taken Kara so long to realize how she truly felt and what that meant; because it was so consistent. From the moment she and Lena first started spending time together, she wanted more. She wanted to include Lena in every activity she did. She wanted to always make sure the human girl was safe from every harm, physical or emotional. Of course, their relationship felt different than any other in the Kryptonian's life, but Kara had justified (or lied) to herself about the reasons why. 

She couldn't fool herself anymore, and now it was like ripping a blindfold off and seeing the entire world through new eyes. Everything felt heavy, weighted, confusing. After Alex went home, Kara scrolled through old text messages between the two of them, kicking herself repeatedly for what she now saw as embarrassingly obvious.

One message from Lena, sent several months prior: “Hey are we still doing something later? We never confirmed”

Kara's reply: “I know ;) that's because I'm surprising you tonight. Be dressed for the movies and let me spoil you like a princess”

Lena: “lol you're too good to me. I'm still at work though”

Kara: “i got this boo. Don't worry about a thing. I'll bring you clothes and pick you up from the office”

Rao, Kara was  _ so gay.  _ And calling her ‘boo’? How was that a thing she had felt was casual friendly texting lingo in any context? Not to mention the memory of that night and how much of a date it had been. Kara really  _ had _ spoiled her: a low-lit fancy sushi bistro, a romcom in a boutique movie theater with lounge seats, a nightcap in a wine bar. Kara had made the excuse that the night was designed with their privacy in mind, but it was more about keeping the two of them intimately alone.

It got even worse the farther back she went in her messages. So much that Kara contemplated using her powers to try and erase Lena's phone without her noticing. Maybe she grab it at super speed and drop it in a toilet? Ugh, no, that fucking  _ cloud _ saved everything!

Kara stumbled across one exchange in particular that caused her to nearly crush her phone in humiliation.

Kara: are you awake? 

Lena: unfortunately. Still working a CatCo issue. Is everything ok?

Kara: totally. Just got in late and was thinking about you. I miss you 

There were seven emojis: 2 heart eyes, 3 hearts, and 2 smiley faces.

Lena: I miss you too

Kara: let's fix that asap so we don't have to kiss each other anymore

Kara: *miss

Lena: ok. Tomorrow?

Kara: I can't wait! sweet dreams

Then more heart eyes. Why?  _ Why? _

When she finally forced herself to quit, she'd had a fitful night of non-sleep, and woke up groggy, still exhausted, and anxious. How could she be the same about anything? How could she ever be friends with Lena again? 

All through the next day, Kara tried to unravel and dissect her relationship with Ms Luthor, in between putting in a half-assed effort on an article about a car fire (turns out there actually was a fucking car fire, what are the odds?). Lena consumed her thoughts and she was mercilessly distracted. By mid-afternoon she had only written a paragraph on the car fire, distracted by googling “Lena Reporter Girl Pictures” and “Lena Luthor Reporter Girl date” and  “Lenarg fics where Reporter Girl secretly loves Lena”. She had hoped there would be a story about her exact situation, where Reporter Girl confessed her love to Lena in such a compelling way that it immediately won the billionaire over. Kara could borrow from that? Although, Kara was quite certain, there were no stories that told her how to handle the specific predicament of Lena only being interested in her superhero alter ego and content to keep Reporter Girl as just a friend.

Quite out of character for the Kryptonian, she didn't realize she was starving until after 5pm, and immediately ordered herself a pizza, then returned to her important “research”.

It wasn't long until there was a knock at the door. She was pleasantly surprised that the pizza delivery was arriving so fast, and used her x-ray vision through the door to confirm.

But it wasn't pizza.

It was Lena.

Lena holding a bottle of wine.

Lena wearing a comfortable hoodie she'd changed into, not coming straight from the office.

Lena, with intention, like she was supposed to be there.

Because- _ oh fuck- _ she was supposed to be there.

Kara had been so distracted freaking out about being in love with Lena Luthor that she had completely spaced on her movie night with Lena Luthor.

“I'll be right there!” Kara yelled toward the doorway, and then  _ thank Rao _ she had powers because she needed every single one of them.

In the fastest possible super speed she could muster without starting anything in her apartment on fire, Kara changed into jeans and a t-shirt, did her hair, shoved a ton of random dishes into her sink, and threw a salad kit from the fridge into a bowl. Her jeans were hot from the friction of superhuman movement, but not smoking, when she swung open the door with a smile.

“Hey, I'm so glad you're here.” Ms. Danvers forced herself to say, as if she'd been absolutely prepared for this.

Lena looked stunning. There was something so perfect and radiant about her dressing down. It was like seeing a side of her only reserved for private moments, and that made it all the more attractive. As if her goal was to ruin Kara's life, Lena immediately went in for a hug as a greeting. It was a solid, lingering embrace, like their hugs always were. 

“I'm so glad I'm here, too.” Lena whispered, giving an extra squeeze for good measure.

When they separated, Kara missed the sensation immediately.

“Uhh, so I may have messed up. I was really distracted by this article I'm writing on a recent car fire, and I lost track of time. So I didn't want to go pick up Thai food, and I just ordered pizza.” She made an uncomfortable side smile of remorse. “If you hate it, I'll get something else.”

Lena turned to set down the wine so her expression was obscured as she reacted. When she turned back around, she was smiling. “I can eat pizza. It would be nice to indulge a little. Did you say there was a car fire?”

“Yes.” Kara glanced over to her living room and that's when she remembered: her laptop. The screen was open and filled with search results of Lenarg fan fiction links, with words like “Reporter Girl loves Lena” highlighted in bold to show that they were word matches with her query. “Uh, that looks like good wine, should it be chilled, though?” Kara gestured toward the freezer, as if playing charades for the place that things become cold.

“No, it's Cabernet.” Lena responded, clearly aghast but trying to mask it. “Oh, did you make a salad?” 

Though not optimal, Kara took her opportunity and moved rapidly across the room, flipping the laptop shut and walking it to her bedroom, talking as she did so. “Uh huh, yeah a salad. I thought that was better than just pizza by itself, you know, add to the meal… sorry, I'm just tidying up to make room for the plates, now!”

It would be nice if this were the end to the night's awkwardness, but that would be wholly incorrect. Despite all her best efforts and mental gymnastics to tell herself she must simply act normal, Kara could not calm down and remember what acting normal felt like. Every time she looked at Lena, she was reminded of the fact that she was in love with her. And every time Lena looked back at her, Kara wondered why Lena wanted Supergirl instead of the girl she already shared everything with.

The plan to tell Lena about her secret identity was fully out the window. There was no way she could reveal that now, maybe ever. The level of embarrassment Lena would feel knowing that she had accidentally hit on her best friend would damage (if not sever) their relationship beyond repair.

But that didn't mean Kara's plan was a complete wash.

Once they had their fill of pizza, Kara flipped on the TV and brought up the movie. Without saying a word, the blonde took a seat a foot away from Lena on the couch, both of them under an extra large quilt.

Kara wanted to enjoy the movie, but she kept hoping they would skip the plot parts and get to the scary stuff. She was both afraid and thrilled at the prospect of feeling Lena against her. 

Unfortunately this movie had so much talking. It was almost an hour in, and there had been nothing but tense discussions between a bunch of people at a dinner party. It seemed like something creepy might happen, but Kara was growing impatient. She started to second guess herself; what if Lena could sense the way that Kara felt and didn't want to touch her, anymore? Or what if Lena would move closer, expecting things to be friendly, but something about the way that Kara would respond to her would send the clear message of “I'm gay for you and want to do more stuff”. Like what stuff? So much stuff. She wasn't even sure what it was, but it involved touching Lena every second until she was satisfied, which she probably never would be.

A character in the movie threw a goblet of wine, breaking Kara's concentration. Lena gasped, because apparently even after an hour of tension it was shocking that something was actually happening in this movie.

“Oh, no.” Lena sighed, pulling the blanket up over her nose.

On the screen someone grabbed a knife from the table and started waving it around; shit was getting real. Stabbing commenced.

As if on cue, Lena practically flew across the couch into Kara's space, pushing against her upper body with full force. It felt like almost nothing to the super, but she was used to faking it with human contact, and allowed Lena to push her down until she was laying flat on her back.

“Oof, are you okay?” Lena was holding herself up above the prone blonde in a push-up position, her hands on either side of Kara's head. “I got so scared, I didn't mean to tackle you.”

“It's ok.” Oh Rao, why did Kara's voice sound so deep and breathy? She had to get it under fucking control.

Control was becoming more impossible as Lena lowered herself down, her head on Kara's chest, stretching her lithe figure out to lay on her side, sandwiched between Kara and the back of the couch. The brunette made a series of small adjustments to her positioning for increased comfort; within a few seconds, Lena was tightly tucked against Kara's side, draping one arm and one leg over the nervous blonde.

Kara couldn't decide if the touch was heaven, or torture, but it walked a fine line. Her arm was halfway under her best friend but her hand was free; she tried to think the most platonic, friendly, non-excited thoughts as she rested her palm on Lena's lower back.

“Are you comfortable?” Lena whispered.

If only she had any fucking idea. “Yeah… thank you.”  Kara whispered back. 

The two of them frequently made it a habit to cuddle or to hold hands during movies together, but this felt like the proverbial transmission had been shifted into fifth gear. Kara was positive that she would remember if Lena had ever laid halfway on top of her, even if in the past she had been clueless to how she felt and not hyper aware of their contact, how she was now. They had probably cuddled fifty or maybe a hundred times and it had never felt like this, had it? Was Kara truly so blind and naive that she had ignored this electrical sensation between them? Could Lena sense it? This was akin to feeling the heat and the awe of standing on the edge of a forest fire, and probably every bit as dangerous.

Suddenly one of the killers jumped out (oh yeah, the movie), and Lena jumped, clutching Kara's shirt and ducking her face down to hide her eyes against the blonde's chest. Kara was absentmindedly listening to Ms Luthor's heart, and heard it pounding rapidly. How was such a brave, powerful woman so terrified of pretend monsters? She only found it more endearing, and she immediately rubbed Lena's back to comfort her.

The climactic murder-fest ending was thrilling, but brief. In about ten minutes, the credits started rolling.

“That was so crazy. I didn't see it coming.” Lena said, sighing.

“Yeah you literally didn't see most of it.” Kara quipped with a crooked grin.

The brunette pushed herself up and playfully slapped at Kara's shoulder. “Rude! You know I have to hide my eyes for the jump scenes!”

They shared a giggle, but then something happened. Their laughter trailed off and both of them were left smiling, staring at one another, Lena hovering just above her best friend. The look in her eyes was familiar; it was almost like the way she had looked at Supergirl just before leaning in for a kiss, but less confident, maybe? Was she just trying to figure out what Kara was thinking? Lena's green eyes fixated on Kara's lips, and the tension in the air between them felt thick, expectant, palpable.

Afraid of giving herself away, Kara cleared her throat. “It was a good movie. Do you want a snack? I am kind of hungry. I can make popcorn. I should have made it for the movie, I'm sorry.”

Lena shook her head. “No, thank you, though. It's late, I should probably be getting home.” She slid back to sit up on the couch, and Kara did the same. It felt about ten degrees colder in the room once their bodies were separated.

Kara desperately wished that she could just ask Lena to stay the night, and sleep in her arms the exact way they had been only seconds before… but that would definitely be too far over the line of normal friendship activities.

“Let me walk you down, then?” Kara offered, cringing a thousand times inside.

Lena called for a car and they left the apartment together. The two women recounted the weirdest parts of the movie to each other as they made their way down to the street. They were waiting on the pavement outside when Lena suddenly changed the subject.

“Oh hey, I talked to Supergirl, a few days ago.” Ms. Luthor abruptly stated without emotion.

“O-oh yeah? I think she mentioned, maybe, that.” Kara stumbled over her words, thrown off completely.

“She did? Did she tell you anything else about it?”

Kara wanted to say something about how Supergirl was mostly fiction and couldn't ever love Lena except that she actually could because she was secretly Kara who could love her if they stopped being so blind to what they had. Instead she said: “No, just that she stopped by.”

Lena nodded pensively and glanced down the road for her car. “There he is. Thank you so much, I had a great time tonight.” She quickly pulled Kara in for a tight but brief hug, before they said their goodbyes and Lena got into the car.

Kara stood on the sidewalk for a moment, relishing the cool night air. She realized two things as she reflected on the night's events. One, she could no longer pretend she was just a friend to Lena, now that she realized how much she was truly in love. And two, she knew exactly how she was going to show Lena that they should be together.


	7. Chapter 7

After their movie night, the next week of Supergirl's (and therefore, Kara's) life was overwhelmingly busy. Of all things that were unexpected, there was a well-calculated cyber attack on twelve American cities, including National City. The outage lasted for three days, leaving most citizens restless and desperate as it dragged on and they were stuck with limited communication, food, and water in some parts of the city.

It wasn't anything compared to what Supergirl had faced before, and technically no one was in immediate danger. But the need for her, and her powers, was paramount. She was being constantly sent as a runner for the DEO, who couldn't communicate, and beckoned to help break up riots and quell the fears of thirsty citizens. She was playing politics and the world's most frustrated messenger app, all at once. There was also an infuriating situation where FEMA dropped pallets of emergency supplies next to a helicopter pad outside the city and unofficially told the Mayor that they could “use the superhero” to distribute resources wherever needed. So now Supergirl was the Red Cross and Emergency Management and represented the City Council, basically? It felt like too much, because it was.

Of course, even though she knew they were asking far beyond what they should have, she continued to do it. Because all the while she could hear and see people throughout the city that were scared. When the citizens knew she was out looking after National City, they calmed down, again. She was needed where it mattered.

Yet on that first night, with the power out and all of the city eerily dark, Supergirl was flying across town (literally) to relay a message that the hospital needed to transfer a patient via ambulance immediately. She looked up and saw L-Corp, just a few lights on in the windows, conserving their generator's power by lighting minimal offices. Including Lena's.

Of course, Lena would be fine through this. Supergirl wasn't worried about her well-being or safety. The generator at L-Corp could probably keep basic operations going inside that building for months, knowing the way Lena planned for the worst. But it did frustrate Kara to know that she wasn't free to pop in and simply check on things. Her mind wandered into a fantasy where she didn't have to do anything except wait at home for the lights to come back on, like everyone else was doing. She would invite Lena over to her place for a game of cards and dinner by candlelight, to “beat the boredom”. In the dark, maybe they would fumble to find things and accidentally brush against one another. Kara wasn't sure what would happen next, but suddenly in her mind's eye they were kissing passionately. Lena's lips were hungrily attacking her own as her fingers played in her blonde locks. 

That's where Kara's imagination stopped, out of some necessity, or self-preservation, or maybe a little of both. 

On the second day of the power outage, Kara sent Lena a text: “I hope you're faring alright in this grid malfunction!” The media had been presenting the cyber attack as a systematic error, but of course through the DEO, Kara knew the truth. The true cause wouldn't be released to the public for several more days. Yet it wouldn't be outrageous for the brilliant CEO of L-Corp to also know more than the average person.

Lena responded. “Not bad, I have the generator, but a lot of projects are on hold so I'm weirdly bored. Come by my office and watch movies?”

Rao, how perfect that sounded. Kara immediately tried to think of every excuse that she could to disappear from Supergirl duties for a few hours. Maybe she could tell the Mayor and the DEO that she was assisting in a high priority top secret operation at L-Corp that no one else could handle. But she knew if she really did that, she wouldn't enjoy herself, and be guilty every minute, knowing she had abandoned a city in need.  _ Even if there was cuddling _ .

Kara texted back: “I so wish that I could. That sounds amazing. But I'm helping Alex cook on a camp stove. Maybe tomorrow?” It wasn't a complete lie. One of the many tasks the DEO had given Supergirl was to use her heat vision to cook, en masse, dinner at the emergency shelter. Which was now at full capacity after an obnoxiously ill-timed HazMat leak caused a mass evacuation in the suburbs. Supergirl had been tapped to respond to that as well (of course).

“I hope so. I'll be here.” Lena replied.

Unfortunately Kara couldn't follow through. The third day of the outage was the worst of all. When it was all finally over, she had been moving non-stop for 78 hours without so much as a break. Supergirl could handle it, but was still exhausted from the constant use of her powers.

The DoD had brought in specialists who were able to isolate the origination of the grid failure and found an anti-alien group responsible. Their endgame plan had been to get into the emergency shelters, create chaos, and use kryponite to kill supers, and then people. However apparently their hackers were more skilled than their logistical experts, because they never obtained any kryponite. They may have also been behind the HazMat incident, but the DoD couldn't confirm that when they debriefed Supergirl and Agent Alex Danvers. 

Even once the power was back on, her duties couldn't immediately end. Supergirl was in meetings with the DEO, DoD, DHS, and a bunch of other random suits, for more than three hours. Because of the secure room, she wasn't allowed to bring her phone, and was incredibly bored. At one point a General was explaining how non-networked SCADA systems could be accessed, and Kara totally spaced out. She was picturing Lena on the couch, moving toward her, heavy-lidded green eyes filled with lustful anticipation. It was exactly the same as the moment that Lena had almost kissed her, except one detail: it was Kara, not Supergirl, in this fantasy. Because if she took away the supersuit and added some phony glasses back in, that moment would have been perfect. Then she imagined herself not jumping up, not making up any excuses, but instead welcoming the inevitable kiss. She pictured herself holding steady as Lena's deep red lips smashed into her own, smudging lipstick while they greedily explored each other's mouths-

“Supergirl!” Alex Danvers practically shouted.

It was then the super realized everyone in the meeting was looking at her, the boring SCADA talk was long over. It must have been her turn to give her “lessons learned” brief to the government representatives.

When the grueling meeting finally came to an end, Supergirl rushed to get out of there and return to her apartment as soon as possible. She was anxious to climb into bed, pull up the blankets, and do nothing for at least twelve hours. But the universe had other plans, because as soon as she retrieved her phone from the secure “entry control point”, she had 7 missed calls. They were all from Lena, but only 2 voicemails.

Kara was still in her supersuit, so she burst through the front door and started flying into the crisp night air toward L-Corp, holding her phone in one hand to hear Lena's messages. If she was in trouble and Supergirl hadn't been there to save her... Kara shuddered at the thought and tried to dismiss it to the back of her mind.

“Two. New. Messages. First. Message.” The obnoxiously robotic voice droned.

“Hey Kara, it's Lena. You're probably not answering your phone to save battery! Anyway no rush, but the power just came back on. So when you charge it, call me back?”

Supergirl was already over halfway to Lena's office. She could see that all the lights were on, now, and she was quite certain she could make out the one specific light she was flying towards, on as well.

“Next. Message.”

“Hi again, sorry. I forgot to say why I was calling. I wanted to apologize for not following through, yesterday. I hope you weren't waiting on me. I know it was my idea for you to come up and watch movies…”

Supergirl landed on the balcony outside Lena's office, as quietly as she could. She didn't see the CEO through the window.

“...but then I flaked, and I'm so sorry. It was an awful day. Let me make it up to you? Can we try again, tonight? Talk to you soon.”

The super was stealthily creeping along the windows, looking for signs of her best friend, or signs of danger. She was pretty certain now that the reason for all the missed calls was on account of Lena feeling badly about blowing her off, and nothing to be concerned about, but her nerves were still on edge. She quickly fired off a text, glancing quickly between her phone and the office interior.

“Hey, no worries about yesterday, I was busy too! Let's definitely do something tonight. I'm free now, are you?” She sent the text and then listened hard with her super hearing for any indication of Lena's phone vibrating or chiming. She heard it deep within the building, somewhere on a lower floor. She tried with her x-ray vision to see through, even though she knew it was futile with the amount of lead. Still she waited and tried to “search” for other sounds near the chime she had heard, which was also proving difficult due to the thousands of other sounds within the building.

Kara's phone buzzed with a reply. “Let's do it. Your place, 25 mins?” 

Supergirl sighed out a breath of relief she didn't realize she'd been holding in. The events of the last three days had clearly put her much more on edge than she was recognizing. She felt foolish for reacting so fearfully to something obviously benign. She rapidly sent an affirmative text and flew home.

Thirty minutes later on the dot, Lena was getting comfortable on Kara's couch, her high heels discarded on the floor, her legs stretched across the cushions, her back against the arm rest. Kara threw a Costco lasagna into the oven and then flopped down onto the other end of the couch, beside Lena's bare feet. The CEO was still dressed in her work clothes this time; high waisted slacks and a button up blouse with tiny birds on it. But she was in the process of undoing her tight bun and releasing locks of gorgeous brown hair, massaging the spots the bobby pins had held all day. Kara wanted badly to offer to assist her in this, but knew if she were close enough to massage Lena's scalp, she would definitely give away her affection unintentionally, and risk everything.

“I'm so sorry again that I didn't call you yesterday.” Lena started. Her voice sounded strained, tinged with exhaustion. “It seemed the outage was nothing at all to worry about, but at 4am my IT department discovered that one of our off-site servers had been knocked out of commission as well. Apparently,” she stifled a yawn, “it had something to do with a security encryption backdoor. Without it, we were at risk of leaking all sorts of customer PII. You know what kind of stock nightmare day I would have had, if that happened. It might have been as bad for the company as Lex going to prison.”

Kara smiled graciously and dipped her head to look as sincerely as she could into Lena's eyes. “Really, I promise, it's more than ok. You have a good reason. The outage was stressful, for everyone. I'm glad it's over!”

They smiled warmly at one another for a short moment. It was the sort of soft look that made Kara immediately question if Lena felt the same way about her. She couldn't help but let suspicion creep in, when she was fully aware that no other friends, or people, in her life would stare at her so tenderly.

Lena broke the moment when another yawn overtook her. “I'm sorry,” she breathed out when it had passed, “I haven't really sat down for so long, I didn't realize how tired I actually am.”

“Would you like to just sleep, until the lasagna is done? You could nap for like an hour.” Kara wanted to add “in my bed, while I hold you, and kiss your shoulders and neck and I hope that doesn't turn you on so much that you ask me to pretend I'm Supergirl and make love to you in the dark” but of course, she didn't.

Lena chuckled, low and quiet. “I already stood you up once. I didn't come over here to nap and ignore you. Maybe I'll just have some cold water? That might wake me up, a bit.”

Kara practically jumped off the couch to fetch the water, then internally kicked herself for being so eager. She couldn't help the constant driving force that told her to make sure Lena was safe, happy, and cared for, every second.

Of course, Kara had not forgotten about her plan to try and win Lena over; it had simply hit a few speed bumps with all the unexpected interruptions. If anything, the extra few days had given Kara the opportunity to really polish her ideas into something solid and prepared, so she wasn't making it up as she went along. However, everything was dependant on Lena's reactions, and there was a chance it wouldn't even work, at all. Now that they were alone, she could start phase 1.

“Hey so,” Kara called from the kitchen as she filled the drinking glass, “I don't want to weird you out, but I found something concerning in the fan fiction stuff. I've been waiting to tell you about it.”

There was a brief pause before Lena replied, then said: “Weirder than all the bondage and watersports?”

Kara tried not to blush at the mention of bondage, and she didn't remember seeing any fics about water skiing or whatever, but that didn't matter. “Uh, no, that's not what I meant.” She handed Lena the full glass, and sat on the couch once again. “I mean that there are a few writers who seem like they know us very well. Much better than they should from Google or the news.”

The brunette furrowed her brow with concern as she took a drink of water, listening intently.

“At first I thought, maybe they are just great at research? But I don't know. I think they might be someone close to us. The way they write sounds like they have been around us, in real life.” Kara let the words hang there. She had so much more that she wanted to say, after all, she'd been practicing this conversation in her head for a few days, whenever she'd had a spare moment. But she waited and took a breath, to see how Lena would react.

“Huh.” Ms Luthor seemed to be deep in thought about what this may mean.

Kara waited a moment longer, trying not to seem too forceful with the information she was sharing. “I told Alex my suspicions, and she said that I should read all of the stories to make sure they didn't include anything too personal that could put our safety at risk.”

“Definitely. I had one of my security managers review all of it be sure of the same thing.” Lena said proudly. “They were mostly ensuring they protected Supergirl's identity, because she was worried when I talked to her. But I had them also look at the Lenarg stories, to make sure your privacy was not at stake.”

Kara hadn't expected this. That threw a wrench into what the had been leading up to, for sure. With all the fics reviewed by Lena's security team, there was no need for Kara to send her best friend some of the better stories “to review”. That had been the crux of the plan, and now she would need a new reason to share dozens of pages of romantic content starring Lena Luthor and Reporter Girl.

Her face must have shown some disappointment, because Lena quickly adjusted her tone. “Don't worry, you know my security is extremely discreet. They won't spread any of this.”

“Right,” Kara expressed flatly. Inwardly, she was quickly processing her backup ideas to attempt a recovery. “That's good. I appreciate you doing that for me. But I'm still wondering who it might be, you know?”

Lena looked slightly confused, rubbing absentmindedly at her skull now, tousling her hair over the arm of the chair. She was quite a beautiful sight. “What would you do if you did find out?”

“I suppose it depends on who it is. If it were someone close to me, I'd be alarmed by their interest in my romantic life. If it we're just an acquaintance or coworker or something, I'd confront them, and probably avoid them forever.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Lena shrugged in acceptance.

Kara waited to see if her bait had worked. There was no tension in the air, only this brief lull in conversation. It was a risk; if Lena felt the discussion was over and had no curiosity on the matter, then it would close the door for Kara's next step in the plan. But if Lena was intrigued, then Kara could move ahead.

“So,” Ms Luthor said, drawing the word out, “which fics do you think were written by people who know us?”

Aha, there it was. Exactly what she'd hoped for.

Kara initiated phase 2.


	8. Chapter 8

Phase 2 was, in a nutshell: showing Lena all of the best fics about Lena and Reporter Girl falling in love.

Kara had isolated twelve great stories, and five additional mediocre stories, and saved the bookmarks into a file in her phone. She was ready to space this out and send each link strategically to her best friend. A few of them were very short (drabbles, they were called), and she hoped to break those out when she and Lena were physically in the same room. That way, maybe she could witness the brunette's reaction firsthand and assess how well her plan was working.

It was kind of scientific, except that Kara was trying to ensure she skewed the results as much as possible.

As soon as Lena asked what fics were written by people who knew them, Kara was locked and loaded.

“Well, I think WillowFrozenBomb is someone we definitely know. Have you read any of their fics?”

Lena shrugged. “Does she also write Supercorp? That's mostly what I've read.”

Kara bit her tongue. Talking shit about fanfiction featuring her superhero secret identity seemed a little bit insane, even for her. “I'm not sure. I could show you one and you can see if it's familiar.” Then she suddenly added: “If you're comfortable with that?”

“It takes a lot to make me uncomfortable, Kara. You know me.” Lena flashed a sly grin.

The pressure was on, now.

Kara pulled out her phone and looked up the particular story. It wasn't _the_ story, because she wasn't going to lead with the best thing she had. It was a short piece about the two women getting coffee together, at various stages of their relationship.

“Here's one.” Kara handed her phone over.

Lena was still laying on her back and shifted a little to get comfortably settled in for reading the fic. As she did, the soles of her feet pressed lightly at the outside of Kara's thigh. In the moment, Kara decided to up the ante.

“Are you sore from those heels?” Kara asked, letting her voice drop lower. She reached down with both hands and gently messaged both thumbs into the Lena's arch, evoking an instant reaction of a pleasured groan.

“Oh, yes.” The raven haired woman replied breathily. She closed her eyes for a second to savor the attention and show her gratitude. She let out a tiny, quiet moan, and Kara had to use all self-control she could muster to keep her thoughts from immediately picturing the other ways she could encourage Lena to moan like that, again and again.

Kara tucked her legs up onto the couch and turned herself so she could focus on giving the best foot massage possible. It was also a convenient excuse to continually watch Lena's facial expressions as she read the story. The super had to be careful to control herself and touch lightly but still firm enough to be effective. While she ministrated on Lena's feet, Kara wondered what part of the story her best friend was reading at that exact moment. She loved everything about the story, and had read it twice. It was essentially three nearly identical trips to Bronson's coffee shop, spread years apart. The first section was Lena and Reporter Girl grabbing coffee as new friends, chatting lightly and subtly flirting. In the second, it had been five years and they had just spent the night together for the first time. They went for coffee the morning after and shyly discussed how this changed their relationship, but how neither of them regretted doing it, because they had waited so long to admit their feelings. The third section was another five years after that, and it was the day after their wedding. They were both exhausted and thrilled from the wonderful chaos of the previous day, and on their way to the airport to go on their honeymoon. They realized that they were in the same coffee shop from before and reflected on how happy they were to have taken the chance and confessed their true feelings of love.

It might have been a little much, but Kara was committed. This was how she would show Lena what might be real, if they both gave it a try.

A few times while reading, Lena made the slightest of facial expressions, but otherwise didn't give away any hint of her thoughts. When she was done, she set Kara's phone down on her stomach and their eyes met, expectantly.

Kara's hands had stopped massaging but were still wrapped around Lena's feet, like a tiny hug. “What did you think?” She couldn't help but ask.

“Well…” Ms Luthor seemed to be mulling over her words, “there weren't specific details about us, like I was expecting. Besides us getting coffee at Bronson's. But that's not my _favorite_ coffee place, you know.”

“Of course,” Kara couldn't help but chuckle at how obvious that was to her, “but Bronson's is closest to your work. I think we go there the most.”

“Sure. And they did know my favorite drink. Maybe the author actually works at Bronson's.” Her green eyes suddenly went wide as if she had cracked a case. “Maybe this story is written or endorsed by Bronson's marketing team, as advertisement!”

This was derailing into a direction that Kara had not planned to go, but she tried to roll with it. “That's a possibility, but I don't think the other stories by WillowFrozenBomb feature product placement. I could check.”

Lena pursed her lips in reflective disappointment that her theory had been so easily debunked.

“They seemed to know our personalities really well, I thought.” Kara continued.

“Hmm,” Lena said aloud, tilting her head side to side to motion an inward debate, “I suppose. I think they depicted you perfectly, just the right amount of humble charm. But Lena was too bubbly, especially toward the end. I'm never that giggly or mushy, in _public_.”

“Yeah but, you know. You'd just gotten married. You would act a little out of character.” Kara was aware that she did not need to defend this fantasy story and that she might be showing too much of her hand in doing it, so she quickly tried to reel it back in. “Of course, they wrote us both out of character to have us getting married in the first place.”

Lena's smile in reply was a bit devilish, a twinkle forming in her eyes. “Maybe you just kept making me lasagna and giving me incredible foot massages until I went gay for you.”

Kara tried to laugh normally, but the sound choked in her throat. It came out far more nervous and awkward than intended, so of course she made it a thousand times worse by actually saying the sounds “Ha, ha” aloud. Rao, she was a weirdo. How the hell Lena had ever become her friend was Earth _and_ Krypton's greatest mystery. It would be the wonder of all the universe to Kara if she could somehow manage to make this brilliant woman fall in love with her.

As if it willed to be loyal and save her from herself, the oven beeped to signal the lasagna was done. Kara jumped up, practically overdoing it and falling forward, as she scrambled to get to the kitchen.

Lena mumbled something, so quietly, about the lasagna now “sealing the deal”. Kara shouldn't have been able to hear it, but of course she did.

The girls served up the food and debated over what to watch while they ate dinner. Ultimately they decided on Love, Actually, as it required the lowest level of concentration from their mutually exhausted minds. Kara suggested that Lena change into something cozy instead of her tight work clothes, and the businesswoman couldn't help herself but to agree. Ms Danvers went to the bedroom and tossed a few choices from her dresser drawer onto the bed, then let Lena know.

Kara busied herself with getting the movie set up in the living room and tried desperately not to think about Lena undressing with only a door between them. And oh, fucking _Rao_ , how tempting it would be to simply use her x-ray vision and peek through that wall, but Kara could never do that to the woman she respected so much. Kara hadn't allowed herself to think about her best friend beyond imagining them kissing, fully clothed, and now the basic idea of Lena in her bra and underwear was sending urgent, pulsating heat between her thighs. She took a loud, deep breath to will herself to calm down. It was a good thing she did, too, because the bedroom door creaked open and out stepped Lena, more desirable than ever.

The brunette had chosen to don Kara's favorite grey sweatshirts, and a pair of black and white jogger style track pants. It was cozy, adorable, and somehow so _fucking_ sexy to see the other woman in her clothes. Lena was holding her discarded work attire in her hands, and Kara noticed something thin hanging out between the folds of the shirt: a bra strap. Oh Rao, oh Rao, _oh Rao_ , Lena was not wearing a bra.

In Kara's shirt.

Lena's breasts were in Kara's shirt.

Lena's breasts were touching Kara's shirt.

Kara felt something sharp and painful digging into her lower lip; it was her own teeth. “I'm ready for the movie!” She suddenly, dumbly shouted, hitting play on the remote and jumping over the back of the couch to land in her seat with a thud that was suspiciously loud for a human girl her size. She flinched and prayed Lena was not paying attention to, well, _anything_. Kara's face was certainly flushed and she felt out of breath, she cursed herself desperately for being so damn obvious.

Fortunately, Lena made herself temporarily busy with setting her clothes by the front door, helping herself to a glass of wine (she had brought all the bottles, after all), and turning out the light. By the time she cozied into the couch, Kara was almost (almost) back to a normal heart and respiration rate.

They watched the film in silence together, with occasional heartfelt sighs at the appropriate moments. But when it got to the part where Andrew Lincoln showed up on Kiera Knightley's doorstep with fake Christmas caroler music, Lena took a big drink of her wine to finish it off.

“This always makes me cry.” She explained, her voice already breaking. The normally tough-as-nails billionaire set her glass on the coffee table and then laid her head on Kara's shoulder. Kara took the initiative to turn so that she was lounging back even more, opening up room for her chest to become a pillow, which Lena accepted.

It was perfect, except for one problem. Lena was laying mostly on her back, with Kara behind her. This positioning made Lena's chest even more prominent in the super's line of sight, and the outline of her breasts through Kara's sweatshirt was beyond distracting. Since Lena couldn't see her without turning awkwardly, Kara's eyes were free to stare as much as she wanted. It was shameful, really, but she realized she had been staring for quite a while and missed a solid chunk of the film.

Mentally Kara both berated herself for admiring her best friend's breasts for so long, and also praised herself for having the self control to not use her powers to look through that shirt.

The movie was magically already the part where Colin Firth proposed in pathetic broken Portuguese. Lena sniffled and reached for Kara's hand, interlacing their fingers. The blonde wished she could bottle up how amazing it felt to hold Lena this way and save it, forever. Even if Lena never returned her love, maybe just having _this_ was all Kara really needed. She could definitely accept feeling the weight of Lena Luthor in her strong arms, their fingers touching together, their bodies moving in tandem breathing, for as long as the universe would allow her this pure happiness.

Sometime before the Christmas pageant ended, both of them fell fast asleep.

* * *

 

Kara woke up, confused about what time it was, but instantly remembering why she was on her couch with Lena Luthor snuggled across her body. At some point Kara had rolled to her side and was on the outer edge of the cushions, creating a barrier. It was as if even in her sleep she was worried that Lena could fall off and hurt her delicate human flesh.

Also protectively, Kara's arm was draped across Lena's middle, holding her snugly.

It was comfortable, but not a good night's sleep. Even the coziest of couches still would leave you feeling groggy and sore, the next morning. Kara brushed back a few locks of dark brown hair from her best friend's gorgeous face, careful not to disturb her sleep. She thought back to how Lena had said, more than once, how exhausted she was after the past few days.

It seemed risky, but Kara was accepting higher risks, lately, wasn't she? Stealthily, she slipped down off the couch and slid her hands underneath the sleeping woman as carefully as possible. One arm under her shoulders, one arm under her knees, and quickly but gently Kara lifted, successfully picking Lena up without waking her.

To move as smoothly as possible, Kara flew, or rather half-glided, into the bedroom. Just as delicately as she had lifted, she carefully laid Lena down on the bed. They had never slept in the same bed together before. But they had slept in each other's arms on the couch, so this shouldn't be that different… except that it was.

Kara settled in on the other side of the bed, acutely aware of every sound of Lena's breathing, Lena's heartbeat, Lena's slightest movements. She allowed herself to be soothed by it and drifted back to sleep.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

With all her superpowers, Kara's senses were always on alert, even when she slept. She could usually even remember listening to conversations in her sleep, which could be positive or negative, depending on the situation.

The super was aware of every movement Lena made beside her in bed, through the night, and into the late morning as they both slept in. She'd been aware when Lena rolled closer, the heat of her body pressing into Kara's, and also aware when she had rolled away again. She felt it when Lena finally woke; her breathing and heartbeat changed. Kara kept her eyes closed, just in case, but listened for indicators that Lena might be leaving. There were none. Kara opened her eyes slowly and took in a sight she immediately knew she wanted (no, needed) to see, every morning. Lena, stretched out comfortably in bed, her porcelain skin practically shimmering in the shreds of sunlight peeking in through curtain cracks. Lena, her brunette hair spread over Kara's pillow. Lena, still dressed in Kara's clothes.

Their eyes met and Lena smiled, groggily, softly. “How did I get here? Why are you sleeping in your glasses?” She asked in a whisper, grinning.

“I, uh…” picked you up and flew around, duh, like a normal human girl, “you don't remember? The movie was over and we got in the bed. We must have been really tired. I was so tired, I didn't take off my glasses!” Because being a bumbling idiot made more sense than being Supergirl, right?

Lena's eyebrow raised at the suggestion incredulously, but she didn't press further. “I have to check in with the office, but I have a pretty open day. Can you hang out for a bit?*

Kara propped herself up on one elbow and rested her chin in her hand. Somehow this action made her feel much more aware of her proximity to Lena, as if now there was a force tugging and pressing at her to simply lean down and capture the other woman's lips with her own. And Rao, those full, decadent lips, they begged to be spoiled with the endless gift of Kara's skin. Where would they first explore if Supergirl were there, and Lena gave in to the object of her desire? As if picturing it herself, Lena's heartbeat began fluttering faster, her breath catching in her chest, so lightly that Kara couldn't be sure she heard correctly.

“Yes?” Lena whispered softly.

“...yes?” Yes to what? Yes to losing herself in sea-green eyes and pale alabaster skin and giving ownership of her body the way her heart and mind were already claimed? Whatever it was, yes.

“Do you have time to hang out? Want to go to Bronson's?”

Right. There was a question. “Oh, yes.”

 

* * *

 

Lena ran home to change for work and then texted Kara when she was on her way to Bronson's. Kara loved this plan because it offered her the perfect opportunity to slide another piece of phase 2 into the mix. Before leaving her apartment en route to the coffee shop, Kara fired off a text: “on my way. And when you get a chance tell me what you think about this? Did Jess write it?” Followed with a link to another fic.

The idea that L-Corp employee Jess could have written a fic about Kara and Lena was laughable, but not impossible. Whoever had written the story in question was someone who had definitely been in the L-Corp building, and probably Lena's office. The entire story took place there, with accurate details about the locations of conference rooms, bathrooms, and furniture.

It was a short fic; only a few thousand words. Kara hoped that Lena might read it in the car on the way, or maybe even at the coffee shop. Either way, Kara would be there for the reaction, if only the tail end of it.

Bronson's was quiet. The morning rush was long over by now. Kara was there first so she ordered for both of them and took up a table by the wall with comfy chairs. When Lena arrived she was the once again looking the part of the composed, classy, formidable CEO, but Kara had to admit she missed the sleepy, cozy, bra-less version.

Lena uttered her heartfelt gratitude at her coffee being ready for her, and she flung herself into the opposite cozy chair. It was amazing that Kara was still excited about having this coffee “date” when they had been in each other's company since the night before. She usually never wanted to spend this much time with anyone else.

The women chatted about their individual plans for the day, Kara inwardly thinking she probably had something at the DEO she was forgetting about, but she ignored it.

Lena paused to sip her drink and Kara took the break as a chance.

“Did you read that link I sent you?” Ms Danvers asked as evenly as she could.

The brunette nodded into her mug as she went in for a second drink. She swallowed and took a dramatic pause, setting down her drink, moving her hands to her knees, then looking at Kara thoughtfully. “Most of it. I didn't finish. I'll finish it in the car.”

“What did you think?” Kara probed, being vague intentionally.

“I don't think Jess wrote it. There's much more romance in the story than she would ever want to involve me in.” She tilted her head and looked to her right, at nothing in particular. “I do think an employee wrote it, though. You're on to something there. But it could be almost anyone.”

Kara leaned forward in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees. “No ideas?”

Lena shrugged. “No one absolute comes to mind. There is one guy, Dominic or Demetrius might be his name, who I heard is a writer. I don't know what kind of writer he is. He works in networking”

Not that Kara cared much who wrote it, but for some reason she had a hard time thinking it could be some IT guy.

“I'm going to have someone look into it.” Lena continued. “Even if it's just to see if it was written while they were at work.”

“Good idea.” Kara replied. She knew what she wanted to ask next but wasn't sure how to phrase it. Buying time, she took a drink of her latte, then mentally decided on going with a playful tone. Teasingly, she said: “So, I hope that stuff in the fic isn't some of the things you normally do in your office. I've sat on that couch, after all.”

“You have.” Lena confirmed, a devilish grin forming at the corners of her mouth. “And so has Reporter Girl. But if I remember correctly she only ruined the top of my desk… and under it.”

Rao damnit, if Lena weren't so much better at this. Kara had tried her best, but was now fully outdone, and therefore covered in a telling blush. She honestly should have known better than to try to match wits when it came to innuendo; Lena was never awkward or shy. In her feeble attempt to seem less embarrassed than she was, Kara blurted out: “Well that's, not sanitary, and probably very unsafe, unless there is an earthquake! That would definitely be the correct safety procedure for an earthquake!”

“It's a good thing we live in California, then, and your odds are increased.” Lena's grin turned even more arrogant as her sense of accomplishment grew.

Was she really trying to imply that she wanted Kara under her desk, or just pushing her buttons to tease her? Lena did seem to love toying with the naive blonde, especially when it came to Kara's innocence about social rules and sexuality. It was probably like a little game to see how flustered her best friend would get. Kara didn't want to let her win, but there was no possible alternative.

“Yeah, there is a 97% chance we will see a megathrust quake in our lifetime, whether it's from San Andreas or even the Cascadia Subduction Zone.” She almost babbled into how she had learned more about this when dealing with FEMA during the power outage, but then remembered, that was Supergirl.

The subject change was enough of a distraction to draw them away from talking about fanfiction. Lena told a story of an earthquake she remembered as a little girl, then they delved into more tales of growing up with the same theme of both feeling different in their adopted families. That was something they shared and understood about each other that few could.

Finally Lena decided she had ignored her incessant phone vibrating away for long enough, and she had to show her face at work. Both women hesitantly agreed it was probably for the best that they try to maintain their employment by actually being there sometime in the day. As Kara stood, Lena launched forward to pull her into a sweeping hug, as they always did in greeting or leaving one another. This time, however, Lena pushed her nose into the blonde's neck and exhaled deeply against the soft skin, the breath tickling Kara and awakening her senses.

Kara wanted to scream at how conflicted and aroused the other woman could make her feel. It was like tiny pinpricks of torture every time they were together now, and they would touch in ways that made her tempted to lose control. Super strength didn't equal super resolve, and Kara was dangerously toeing that line.

The hug lasted seconds longer than any regular hug between friends would. When Lena did pull away, her expression was tender and filled with warmth.

“I'll text you later.” Ms Luthor said in a half whisper.

As Kara watched her love interest walk out of Bronson's, she realized that she might be going about this plan all wrong. She was trying to get the girl using only half of her available resources. If she was going to be 100% successful at landing a girl like Lena Luthor, she had to use 100% of her abilities.

Kara took a long, deep breath, and tugged at her collar, feeling for the familiar fabric of her supersuit underneath. “Time to bring out the big guns.” She whispered under her breath.


	10. Chapter 10

Supergirl checked in with Alex Danvers at the DEO, which took about an hour of her time. Once they had covered the bases, Alex couldn't help herself but to tease her younger sister about the fanfiction and also about her revelation that she was in love with Lena.

“Have you told her yet?” Alex asked, suppressing a laugh.

“No…” Supergirl started, a bit melancholy about it, “I've been trying to, and we keep hugging and cuddling, and it's driving me crazy.”

Alex raised her eyebrows, alarmed at the confession. “You've been trying to tell her? I figured you'd be too shy and awkward. Wait, maybe you have been. How exactly did you try to tell her?”

Kara explained how her three phase plan was going, with her idea of sending Lena fanfiction featuring the two of them together, and how that would make her realize how perfect they would be if they were in love.

“...then phase three starts and that's where she realizes that we should be together and she should give me a chance, so we try it and she falls in love with me. Probably.”

Agent Danvers nodded slowly. “Huh.”

Supergirl pursed her lips, feeling irritation starting to rise. She knew there was criticism coming next, which she hated. “What? What's wrong with it? Just tell me.”

Alex shrugged defensively. “Nothing is wrong with it, you know, it's a pretty great plan! You have obviously thought it through, a lot.”

“But…?”

“But…” the older sister continued, “well, have you considered the idea that perhaps she's already in love with you? And sending her these stories won't show her anything?”

Kara shook her head emphatically, blonde waves bouncing over her shoulders. “No, she-”

“Hear me out, okay? If she's already in love with you, and thinks it will freak you out and push you away, then she's not going to react at all to these stories. She's probably already read all of them. Does she seem weirded out or surprised when you send them to her?”

Supergirl thought for a moment, though she would already know the answer if she were honest with herself. “No, not really.” She relented.

“Okay, and does she seem to be into them?”

“I'm not sure. She reads them, we talk about them, she teases me about them.” The more she heard herself saying it aloud, the sillier that Kara began to feel. 

Alex nodded, looking quite self-assured. “If she didn't have those feelings for you, trust me, she wouldn't want to talk about any of them. Think about it more. If someone sent you a fic about… you, and, and…” she struggled to think of a name, “Winn!”

“Ew!” Kara blanched.

“Yeah, see? If he sent you romantic stories about the two of you, would you read them?”

Kara tried to imagine it objectively, thinking through both scenarios and trying to imagine herself in Lena's position. “No, but… Lena is really open-minded about things, and she's always curious and wanting to learn; she probably finds them entertaining.”

“What about the cuddling?” Now Alex's expression and posture was almost demanding. She folded her arms and looked expectantly, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head.

Supergirl shrugged. “We always did that.” She admitted sheepishly.

“You always cuddle? Like when? How does that even happen? She comes over and just sits down with you and cuddling starts?” With each question the pitch of Alex's voice raised higher than the last.

“Basically.”

Both women were at a standstill, staring at one another. Supergirl, her expression reflecting guarded embarrassment, and Alex, looking incredulous.

“You're a disaster lesbian.” Alex finally quipped with a scowl. 

“I'm… no,  _ you _ are.”

* * *

  
  


Supergirl had a few tasks thrown at her from the DEO to cover, mostly checking in on suspected organized criminals that may have links to anti-alien terror, to see if they were active. It was always easy when all she had to do was perch on top of something for a bit and listen in, or look through the walls. 

She reported back to Alex with some Intel where it was helpful, and probably inconsequential information as well. When she finished, the sun had set and the city was starting to buzz with the Friday night life. Off the hook for official duties, Supergirl was now free to resume her personal mission she had set out to do at Bronson's, just that morning.

As usual, she flew to L-Corp looking for Lena, but this time the CEO had left for the day. She used her super hearing and didn't detect Lena's voice anywhere in the building, but then caught a very faint hint of it, somewhere nearby. In an odd game of “hot or cold”, Kara was flying sporadically around, listening, then moving, and listening, then moving. Finally she realized the reason for the traveling voice: and Supergirl dropped from the sky to land right beside Lena's car.

The driver had stopped for a light, and was oblivious to the superhero suddenly standing next to them. Lena had been on the phone, which was why Supergirl heard her continually speaking. The Luthor caught a glimpse of the heroine and grinned immediately, terminating her call and reaching over to open a passenger door.

“Need a ride?” Lena teased, scooting over in the backseat to make room.

Supergirl obliged, sliding in to the expensive, supple leather interior.

“What brings you to my car tonight, Supergirl?” Lena asked, turning nearly sideways in her seat toward the Kryptonian visitor.

“Well, I thought I owed you an apology for disappearing, the other day. I haven't had a chance to tell you, that was rude of me.”

The brunette made a confused expression, but it seemed a little too over the top to be genuine. “But there was a car fire. I expect you have to go when emergencies happen.”

Supergirl smiled. “Well thank you for being understanding in that way. Not everyone is.”

It was quiet for a moment in the backseat. The driver was about to turn onto the exchange to travel uptown, when Lena suddenly noticed they were still moving toward her original destination. “Hey, Chad?” She called to the driver, “can you just take us around for a ride? Wherever.”

“Chad” agreed and cancelled his indicator, then pulled back into the traffic to route aimlessly around the city.

Satisfied with that, Lena fixated once again on Supergirl. “You know what I think? I think I made you nervous, the other day. And I think you aren't used to being nervous. But I think you're back because you still know that I was right.”

Wow, if Lena wasn't bold when it came to Supergirl. The blonde swallowed harder than usual, her mouth already feeling dry. “That might be true. Or maybe I decided to come tell you that I don't think there's anything between us. I read the stories you told me about, and it wasn't compelling. I don't think 'we’ would work, I'm-I'm sorry, Lena.”

“Maybe? You sought me out and got into my car, but you don't sound sure of yourself, at all. Don't you want to be sure?” Their eyes were locked together, and Lena was sliding closer.

Supergirl was forgetting all the arguments she'd made in her head before this moment. She had a solid plan. She had so much she was going to say. But now those ruby red lips were mere inches from hers, hungrily demanding her attention, and the electricity between them was diluting her brain. “I… don't.” Supergirl whispered.

Lena's fingertips grazed across Supergirl's cheekbone tenderly, once as a hesitant touch, then a second time; leading her in. That tiny pull was enough. Kara's barriers could no longer hold her back from what she desired most, and the dam was broken. Their eager lips found each other in the darkness of the car; Lena's  warmer and fuller than Kara had imagined they would feel. It was like falling into a perfect temperature bath at the end of a long day. Both women held the kiss, mouths pressed flatly together, Lena's head tilted slightly. A quiet, tiny moan escaped the brunette; maybe without super hearing, Supergirl never would have detected it. But she did, and the sound awakened a fire within Kara that had been burning every second since the moment she realized she was in love with her best friend. Maybe the fire had even started before that, but she had ignored it. Now, it was raging. Supergirl's lips captured Lena's, pulling the lower greedily into her mouth. The sudden action of pure lust immediately turned their kisses desperate and hungry. The Kryptonian's hands reached around Lena's lower back to gently slide her body tightly against her own, easily moving her without any effort at all. Lena fidgeted with the collar of the supersuit for a place to bury her fingers, but when she couldn't gain access, she grabbed for the cape and pulled it taut against Supergirl's shoulders. Lena's tongue was first to beg for access, brushing hesitantly at the blonde's lips, which parted to allow it entrance. When their tongues touched it instantly sent pulsing, throbbing waves of heat through Kara's spine and between her legs. It seemed to have the same effect on Lena, who moaned loudly into the kiss. 

On cue, the volume of the radio slowly rose just enough to drown out the sounds of their impassioned breaths and moans in the backseat. Neither women took any mind of the driver Chad, who was doing his best to remain professional and ignore them. 

Breathlessly, Lena pulled her lips away and leaned in toward Supergirl's neck, raining sloppy and short kisses over her jawline. “I can tell you're holding back from me.” She whispered.

“I… have to.” Supergirl replied. She had touched many humans before, and knew just how much restraint she had to show to keep from harming them. She wanted so badly to lose control with Lena, but couldn't allow herself to risk it. 

“I've been working on something… just in case…”

Was Lena saying what it sounded like she was saying? It was hard for Supergirl to focus on anything with the pressing need growing deep and low within her, quickened by the sensation of the brunette's breath against her neck.

“I wanted to give it to you as a gift.” Lena continued. “You could use it with anyone, if you needed it. But I hoped… I hope you'll use it with me.”

Supergirl couldn't quite understand what she meant. “What does it do?” She whispered back.

Lena couldn't answer immediately, as she was distracted by the sudden sensation of Supergirl sucking lightly under her ear.

“It… uhn… it dampens your powers so you can touch someone, and lose control.” 

Supergirl recoiled in surprise, instantly creating a gap between them. She looked into green eyes for a sign of teasing or lying, and found nothing but honesty. Never, in her time on Earth, had Kara been able to experience freedom and touch a human without complete restraint and control. As badly as she wanted to experience it, she was afraid it would crush her heart to give herself to Lena as Supergirl, and not as Kara. But that small nagging voice that said “this will hurt you” was drowned out by the much louder echo of desire, especially when she looked at Lena and imagined touching her.  _ Really _ touching her.

As Supergirl leaned back in for another kiss, she whispered against expectant lips: “Show me.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been revised!  
> So in the first pub, Lena's feelings really didn't come across. I was trying to portray her as holding her cards close to her chest, but she was TOO subtle and guarded, so she came off as kind of an ass. This revised chapter opens both of them up a little more to each other.
> 
> The story is wrapping up in the next chapter, and then will perhaps have a "encore chapter", but basically this fic is drawing to an end. Thank you all for the amazing feedback and input. Muah!

Kara had never been inside Lena Luthor's penthouse. It was strange how they spent so much time together, but this seemed foreign, almost sacred. As Supergirl, she had flown by the building and checked on Lena dozens of times, so it wasn't wholly unfamiliar. But Supergirl noticed as she walked in that the penthouse felt different than it looked from the outside. It felt intimate. It felt like a space totally opposite from everything else that Lena displayed in her very public and professional life. This space was cluttered with old books, maps, and antiques. It was modern space filled in with classic mementos. It reminded Kara exactly of a museum, with shiny bright surfaces contrasting the scattered faded leather and stone artifacts.

Immediately she felt wrapped up in a world that screamed of Lena and it was exhilarating. 

As if reading the super's mind, Lena bashfully explained. “I never have visitors, actually. I've been collecting some… things. Please just ignore the messes.”

“It's wonderful.” Kara responded genuinely. “I want to stop and look at everything.”

“You can, sometime.” 

Supergirl noticed that Lena was holding her hands together, clasping and unclasping them, nervously. Her heartbeat had been elevated slightly since they had kissed, but now it was picking up even more. Before the blonde could comment on this, Lena quickly motioned toward a door at the edge of the dining room. 

“Let me show you what I made. I hope you like it. If you don't, I promise it's the only system like this, and I'll destroy it. Though, it's filled with failsafes so there's no way it could be used against you.”

If Supergirl didn't know Lena so well, she might not have recognized this near-state of panic the other woman was displaying. She had hardly ever seen the composed CEO exhibit self doubt to this degree. It was endearing. 

They walked silently through the door and Supergirl saw it was a modest laboratory and study. Of course, Lena Luthor would have a room in her home dedicated to her work.

Lena went to a safe and entered a code, then a thumbprint, then a code again. Supergirl resisted the urge to stare into the hollow of the safe as the door swung open; her curiosity was piqued when she realized the container was encased in lead. 

Lena retrieved two circular widgets, each about the size of a silver dollar. She held them both in her hand delicately, and shut the safe. As she held them out in an open palm, her hand was visibly shaking. Supergirl accepted the devices and began to carefully inspect them, while Lena explained.

“I made them for you, as a gift. At first I did it because I thought it could help you hide your identity and you could dampen your powers slightly, to make yourself look more human. You know, in your… civilian life.”

Supergirl's assessment of the devices was that they reminded her a bit of wireless running headphones, though made of something metal in origin. She raised one eyebrow inquisitively and looked to Lena for more information.

“Then…” the scientist continued, “I realized the implication. You could do anything without needing to hold back your strength. At first, I thought you could use it for exercising. I've always wondered how you can possibly stay fit and challenge yourself when you're strong as steel. Anything you try to lift or throw would probably crumble. Then I thought of all the applications and…” she trailed off, looking for some affirmation. 

The super turned the devices over in her hands. She had used dampers for her powers before (not that Lena would know), but these were so sleek and portable. She could easily hide her abilities. She looked up, wanting to hear it. “What applications?”

Lena's cheeks tinged pink, something that Kara had never witnessed happen before in all their years of friendship. “W-well, it wasn't fully my idea.” She said, backpedaling with embarrassment. “I was reading one of the stories that I told you about, and there was one where… Supergirl and Lena were, uh, intimate. But it was in some kind of special training or exercise room underground somewhere, that had dampeners for your powers.”

A training room. Like at the DEO?

Kara didn't have time to think of it, as Lena continued. “Then I realized that was another thing that power dampeners could be used for. They could give you a safe way to be intimate with someone. With a human.”

Supergirl tried not to let her mind recount just how many times she had actually thought about exactly that. Since she had her first real crush, actually. It was Julia Sanderson, and she had been so pretty and smart and irresistible. Kara had not known what to do with her feelings, but she knew she had butterflies every time that Julia was around. She imagined many times what it would be like to kiss and embrace her, but always she was reminded of how delicate humans were compared to Kryptonian strength. The possibility of crushing Julia accidentally, in the moment, was far too great. Kara had learned to live with the idea that she would never have a sexual relationship with a human, at least not a reciprocal one. That had been so long ago, but it was ingrained into her subconscious as a fact she would have to accept and live with, forever.

All of those feelings and memories rushing back at once made Supergirl feel quite overwhelmed with emotion. Lena seemed to take notice and stepped forward, gently entering the blonde's space.

“I hope you're okay with this. They are for you, to keep. I don't expect anything from you.” Green eyes were searching, pleading for blue, and found them solemnly. “You are free to keep them, and use them with someone you care about. I hoped…” Lena couldn't bring herself to finish.

Supergirl's mouth was dry as she stared, holding her hands in front of her body awkwardly. “Thank you.” Her voice cracked. This was something she wanted to share with the woman she loved. But not like this. Not like a superhero. Not in a costume. Not as the character she played to comfort and protect her city. Not as Supergirl. She wanted to make love to Lena, as Kara. As herself. And hopefully as the woman who Lena actually loved, in return. “Do you… mind keeping these for me, for a little while?”

The inventor nodded silently and extended her hand to accept them.

“I want you to have them, until I'm ready.”

Lena's forehead furrowed a bit at this, as though she felt the request was contradictory, but she said nothing as she returned the two dampeners to her safe and securely closed the door. When she turned back, the awkward air between them was thick with tension.

There was only one thing Supergirl couldn't handle besides kryptonite, and that was awkward tension.

“Thank you,” she started again, “I think I should probably be going.”

Lena sighed softly, her eyes cast downward. “I'm sorry, if it's all too much. I'm sorry if I overdid it.”

“What?”

“I keep thinking I can show you what we have, and what we could be, and you'll want me. I thought for sure you would read those stories and realize that we have so much chemistry, random people who have never even  _ met us  _ can see it! There are thousands of pages written about us falling in love. Us, kissing. Us, together.” Lena's lower lip was beginning to tremble. “I'm sorry if I've been coming on too strong, and scaring you. I thought that you wanted me too, and I've been a little relentless, maybe. I just wanted to show you. I thought we've had this electricity between us, for years, now. I should have known it was only me.”

“No, Lena. It's not that. It's definitely not only you who feels this.” 

Lena shrugged, laughing quietly in a joyless way. “Then what is it? Do you think I'm trying to trick you somehow? Do you think that I'll hurt you? Are you afraid of me?”

Supergirl stood stoic on the outside, but inside she was filled with panic. “I am terrified. But not of being hurt.” She wanted to say ‘I'm terrified you will never love Kara’ but the words stopped in her throat.

“You have nothing to be afraid of. I kissed you. You kissed me. You came home with me. This thing between us has been growing,” Lena reached out and softly took Supergirl's hand, her fingertips stroking the hero's palm. “I can't be wrong about us? I'm giving myself to you.” Her eyes were sincere, and filled with… love?

It was all the more reason for Supergirl to wish that affection were really for  _ her _ . “I can't.”

“Because you're afraid you would hurt me? You can try the dampers, and punch whatever you want in this room until you're sure-”

“No.” It pained Kara to say it. It was torture, in fact. But she said it more for herself, than for Lena. She was denying herself the woman she desperately wanted, more than anything, for the sake (or hope?) of having real, true love with her. She took a long sigh. “It's what we both want, but I'm not the one for you.”

Something changed in those green eyes, like the warmth drained out of them. Lena pulled her hand away and clutched it to her chest.

“I-I'm sorry.” Supergirl said as a final offering, feeling there was nothing more she could give.

It was not a complete disappearing flash of red and blue; more like a blur. But the whirlwind of moment caused Lena's hair to flow up around her face. And that single second was all it took for Supergirl to rapidly leave the penthouse and fly away, leaving a confused, broken woman behind.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rao-damn I love how awesome all of your feedback has been! Thanks for riding through this rollercoaster fic!  
> You may have missed where I said in a few of the comments how I really intended to write a quick fic with 1-2 chapters, but the story had a mind of its own. I was crazy inspired to keep it going and I'm so glad I did!  
> It has been a blast writing this, and I am so glad that many of you love it as much as I do!  
> Oh, and something very important! All of the fics that Kara and Lena talk about are from my imagination, EXCEPT in this chapter when Lena talks about her favorite fic, it's actually my favorite fic, An Ocean of Fire by IcarusAndHerSun. I highly recommend! Hopefully Icarus is cool with my loose reference!  
> There will be one last "epilogue" chapter after this, but this is the ending, for the most part.

Kara wants to see Lena.

Kara also doesn't want to see Lena.

It would seem that Lena might not really want to see Kara, either, judging by the lack of communication. Two days went by without a word, not even a shared gif or a meme. 

There's no reason that Kara Danvers shouldn't talk to her friend, Lena Luthor, right? It's Supergirl who rejected Lena, panicked, and disappeared like an asshole. 

Kara had thought selfishly that maybe Lena would reach out to her, the way a friend reaches out to another friend, when they have been hurt. Maybe Kara could be that shoulder to cry on? And maybe then she could gently open that door to show her best friend that  _ she, _ Kara, was actually the whole package. They could have it all: the friendship, the love, the sex. Not simply one out of three.

So finally, Kara breaks down and texts: “hey, are you doing okay? Let's hang out this weekend and talk”.

After staring at the message for five minutes, Kara sees it has been read, but there's no reply.

Kara changes her notifications so her phone will alert her (loudly) if she receives a text or call from Lena.

Nothing happens for another full day, when Lena finally texts back: “yeah sorry, really huge project at work. I'm too busy to plan anything right now”.

That's it?

She’s too busy?

She has never been too busy for Kara. Even when chaos is unfolding to catastrophic proportions at L-Corp, Lena will want to at least eat lunch together at her desk while she pounds away on work.

Maybe Lena thinks that the rejection from Supergirl is somehow Kara's fault? Does Lena know how Kara feels, and think that Kara is trying to keep her and Supergirl apart?

It starts to make her head hurt a little, trying to think about it. She tries imagining herself as two distinct people, the way Lena would think of her, but she keeps confusing herself with… her other self.

Kara considers getting take out and delivering to the L-Corp CEO so that they can clear the air, but she chickens out when she imagines Lena reacting badly. It's the same reaction she imagines when she imagines telling Lena about Supergirl, or telling her how she's fallen in love with her.

Though it seems like agony, somehow another week goes by. Kara spends it checking her phone obsessively during her day job. On nights as Supergirl, she flies by Lena's office or her penthouse to listen for her heartbeat, ensuring she is safe, then moving on. 

Ten total days have passed, Kara sends a little “care package” up to Lena’s office. It is a basket of two premade salads, two take out portions of fried rice, a bag of cookies, several varieties of loose leaf teas, a goofy stress ball shaped like a minion, and a picture of the two of them. Kara found it on a Lenarg fandom site, but this one was absent of any hearts or text added by enthusiasts. On the back of the photo, Kara wrote “I miss you, best friend.” with a little smiley face. 

She thought for sure that this would break through Lena’s wall and remind her of their friendship. Maybe Lena would open up to Kara about how she was feeling, and they could talk through it. 

But instead, all she received was a short text: “thank you so much for the basket”. There was nothing to be done with that. There was no invitation or warmth or even an openness to conversation. The more time that passed with Lena shutting her out, the more that Kara wished she had the nerve to explain it all, and why she had rejected her advances and basically run away. But it’s pretty hard to accept responsibility for someone else’s actions, when no one knows that someone else is actually you.

At the end of 14 days, Kara breaks.

She doesn't break a little.

She breaks a lot.

It's just after 1am and Supergirl is flying above National City, patrolling the “problematic” crime-prone areas. She follows the routine she's held the past few weeks, and as she turns Northeast, she takes a quick jaunt uptown toward Lena's penthouse. The past few nights she's been by to check on Lena every few hours, keeping her distance so she can't be seen from the windows. Even from six blocks away, she can isolate the CEO's heartbeat, soothing and constant. It's the pulse that she has now trained her senses to identify, from an even greater distance and pushing through thousands of other audio stimuli. Though it is late now, she can tell by the rhythm and the hint of light through the windows that Lena is still up. Supergirl is about to turn and continue her route toward the South, when she feels a pull in her chest that she can't ignore any longer. There’s something about the hours past midnight that make a melancholy heart scream louder and cry harder for the object of one’s affection, and Kara is not immune to the affects.

Hastily, she flies quickly for an alleyway where her clothes are stashed; there might be thirty more places around the city where she keeps a random “Kara disguise”. This one is an ugly olive green shirt she sort of hates, but it will do.

Kara grabs up the extra clothes and shoes, then pulls her phone out to send Lena a text before taking back to the skies. “You know, there’s a story I read where something like this happens. Lena and Reporter Girl quit talking for days. There was a reason for it.”

She feels adrenaline in her chest that courses like ice water through her veins, landing mostly in her head, white hot with anxiety. She can’t turn back now, this has already begun. She has a plan, loosely, of how this will go.

Something within Kara tells her that she has nothing at all to lose. Obviously she might have lost Lena already, or at least that’s how it feels to have her best friend ignore her for two weeks and blow her off so adamantly. Besides, sharing the truth with Lena is long overdue.

Standing in the alley, debating her next move, her phone dings.

Lena's reply: “Okay… what was the reason?”

At least she got a text back. That's sure something.

Kara hears a police siren nearby and zeroes in on it. She can isolate the siren, then follow it to the noise of the interceptor engine. Next she hears the chatter of the officer, talking into his radio as he speeds through the city. He is talking to the dispatcher about his destination: a noise complaint at an uptown hotel. Ah yes, this is why Kara never patrols up this way.

Satisfied that she won't be needed, Kara turns back to her phone and types out another text: “reporter girl was hiding her feelings, but Lena took that as rejection.”

It was a pretty vulnerable admission. Maybe Kara could play dumb and say she was just talking about the story and didn't mean anything deeper than that. But no, she steeled herself. Enough dancing around and hiding. If Lena wanted Supergirl as much as she said that she did, then she could want Kara. Or maybe she would, once she accepted that they were one and the same.

Still in her supersuit, holding her clothes and fake glasses under one arm, Kara flies to the balcony outside Lena’s penthouse. It’s not much of a space, but it’s enough to land on. She looks through the glass and sees the CEO there in the living room, lounging on her couch, angled away so Kara can only see the back of her head. Lena has a tablet on her lap, open to a page of text that she is slowly scrolling through. 

Kara takes advantage of not being noticed to rapidly throw on her regular “Kara Danvers clothes”, complete with glasses, and a hair tie. She takes a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, and pulls out her phone to see that Lena had texted her a reply: “how else should she have taken it?”

That's her opening.

That's really, truly, her opening.

“Come on, Kara. This isn't going to kill you.” She whispers just as she reaches down to the handle of the sliding glass door and gives it a gentle nudge to see if it is unlocked; it is. The hesitant blonde pushes it the rest of the way and steps in.

The sound of the door sliding open reasonably startles Lena, who jumps from the couch, throwing her tablet in the process.

The two women stand, staring, across the room.

From where Kara is, just inside the doorway, she knows there is about fifteen feet between them. It somehow feels much too close, as Lena’s eyes fill with questioning, and Kara feels a ball rise in her throat.

She swallows it down hard, and begins. “To answer your question, Lena should have realized that Reporter Girl was just scared. She wasn't really rejecting Lena, she was holding back from the inevitable.” Slowly, gingerly, Kara takes tiny steps to close the gap between them, her blue eyes steady. *Because once they actually accepted the feelings they had for each other, and the chemistry between them, that would be the end. Not the end of the story, but the end of an era for them both. Their love is so big, that if they admit it, they will never be the same. Fireworks, and marriage, and a dog, and babies, or traveling... whatever. It all starts if Reporter Girl is honest with herself. Because she can't unsee it, and she can't let go of how she feels, and it's what drives them together.”

Kara stops walking now, standing a comfortable arms length from the brunette. Lena raises her eyebrows slightly and looks hurt and expectant all at once.

Though not encouraged, Kara continues. She has to get all of this out.

“But this Reporter Girl has another problem in her way. Because there's a secret that I wanted to share when it was the right time, but I kept waiting, and the right time never seemed to come. Then I realized, it was far too late. The moment had passed, and now if I told you, you would be hurt by it. I'm sorry, but I'm also not sorry, because if you tell me tonight to go fuck myself and die in a kryptonite car crash, then at least…” she heard her voice starting to crack and the hint of tears building behind her eyes. She stuffed it down with all she could bear. “Well, at least I had a moment with you, where I could kiss you, and make you feel beautiful and desired and loved. A moment that I could show you everything that you are, to me. Even if you did think that I was someone else.” Kara can't stop it now, and feels a hot tear roll down her cheek, followed by another on the other side. Despite how raw and exposed she feels, she doesn't look away from Lena's green eyes.

It is so quiet, that Kara has to consciously shut off her super hearing from searching for sounds in the ambience.

They both stare for a long moment.

Just when Kara thinks maybe it's best to fly out the window and move to Metropolis forever, Lena reaches out. Both of the brunette's small, delicate hands wrap around Kara's. Lena's fingertips curl in and stroke the superhero's palms, just like she had done with Supergirl, before.

The connection in the gesture instantly relaxes Kara from her previously mounting anxiety, and she lets out a shaky breath.

“You.” Lena whispers. “It's just you. Supergirl, Reporter Girl, whatever-girl, all of it is just… you.”

Kara feels her eyebrows jutting together to convey confusion before she can stop them. She bites her tongue; she already said everything she had to.

“Did you read the one where Supergirl and Lena are both princesses of different kingdoms and they have a Kryptonian wedding?”

Kara can't help but let out a tiny laugh at the sudden topic change and how it throws her off. She shakes her head.

Lena smiles in return. “It's my favorite. Supergirl has been captured and Lena frees her. They escape together. But in so many ways, they are equals.” She steps even closer so that the front of their bodies nearly brush together. Lena's grip tightens on Kara's hands, her fingertips stroking firmly and rhythmically over the other woman's palms. “Because they both save each other. And Supergirl saves Lena in a simple, normal way. Not with super strength or flight or x-ray vision, but… by loving her. She loves Lena when everyone else has hurt her. Supergirl heals my tragic, pathetic heart, just by being a regular girl who loves me. I kept wanting to send it to you, just in case you felt like I didn't want the real you. But then, I had no idea what you felt.”

Kara sighs and a tiny whimper escapes her. “You knew.” She says, unable to help it as another tear rolls down her cheek.

“Oh, baby. Of course I knew. I've known since I met you. I can visualize and predict chess up to 7 moves in advance, there's no way I couldn't picture you without glasses and a ponytail.”

Kara laughs again, but this time it's low and quiet, as she is fully aware of how close the two of them are and how she can feel Lena's breath against her face.

“I'm sorry, if I hurt you.” Kara whispers. “I was so scared that you only wanted Supergirl, and if I gave in to how badly I wanted to be with you, as her, then you would never want me, as me.”

Lena's hand leaves Kara's and quickly cups her tear-streaked face, stroking the soft skin with her thumb reassuringly. “Kara. Oh, love. I always wanted you. All of you. I have wanted you every day. I believe I'll want you every day ahead, too.”

The words are barely finished passing her lips when they are caught by Kara's eager mouth, descending for a crashing and desperate kiss. Lena tastes the salt of the tears on the super's lips, but quickly it fades as they kiss each other, again, and again. It's so much more than the first kiss they shared in the car; everything they feel is behind this, and neither woman is guarding their heart or holding back from sharing all they feel. All of it is given away in the tender, loving, passionate way they kiss one another, now.

Kara pulls away, breathlessly, her forehead pressed lightly to Lena's. Her hands have become tangled in the brunette's locks and her fingertips gently tease at the nape of Lena's neck. “Wait… what were you reading, when I came in?”

Ms. Luthor laughs, nuzzling into Kara's cheek as she does. “You know. Just some story about us, being dumb and in love, but both too scared to tell each other.”

“Ugh, fic is so unrealistic.” Kara says with a glint of humor in her eye, as she leans in to capture Lena's lips once more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the epilogue!  
> That means this fic is finally, officially, done!  
> Thank you all so much for your continued, thoughtful, deliberate feedback.  
> I hope you continue to check out my writing in the future! This has been the most fun fic I think I've ever written! I have already started another, so we'll see how soon I am ready to unveil it!  
> Muah!

“Alex. Please tell me you're sitting down.”

It's an average Tuesday night, in Alex Danvers's apartment, where Alex and her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer have finished eating subpar fried rice. Maggie had just remarked that she needed to check her email regarding a case she's been working, while Alex tended to the plates and poured them each digestifs. 

“You know I'm not.” Alex calls back from the kitchen, bottle of brandy in-hand over a glass.

“Then get in here and sit. You really are going to need to be sitting for this.”

Alex scoffed at the dramatism and finished mixing the warm beverages. As she returned to her seat on the couch beside her waiting girlfriend, she made a big show of rolling her eyes playfully.

Both women took a few sips of the heated cocktail to try it, then Maggie set hers down on a side table and sat cross legged, turned toward Alex, and began with enthusiasm.

“Okay, so, remember those things that I wrote before we started dating that we swore never to speak-”

“Oh _ ew  _ Maggie, no! I told you I never want to talk about this!” Alex made a fake vomiting sound. “Why would you bring that up tonight? So squicky. And I had to read some of them when I was helping Kara!”

“Because it's relevant! Because you have to know this!” She defended, looking bashful but insistent.

Alex shook her head violently. “No, nope. Ew. That is my  _ sister _ . I don't even care if she were dating the President, or Justin Bieber, or The Rock… it doesn't matter! People writing stories about her on the internet in a  _ romance _ with Lena?! I never want to think about it. I've thought about it way more in the past month than I needed to, in my whole life!” Her animated gesturing caused her beverage to slosh out onto her hand slightly, and Alex quickly licked it off.

“Well, I didn't know her, then, and I thought that the two of them were so…” Maggie caught the sudden death-stare that could kill from her girlfriend, and thought better of trying to defend herself. “Okay, right! Yes it was so stupid of me, and I know I promised to never bring it up again!”

Alex scoffed playfully as she raised her glass. “Yet here we are.” She said between sips. “You know, I had to lie for you. Kara was sitting there telling me all about the fics she'd been reading, and how there was so much great stuff about her and Lena being in love, and Maggie, I shit you not, she started quoting your fic to me. I knew it was yours, but of course, what could I say?”

Maggie's eyes went wide. “That's… that's kind of awesome.”

“No it isn't! It's weird! It's  _ so _ weird!”

Maggie groaned a little in protest. “Wait, you said she realized that she was in love with Lena because she was reading fics about them, together, and it clicked. Was she reading _ my _ fic?” A shocked dawn of realization passed over the woman, who seemed to stop breathing. “Did I make Lenarg become real life?!”

“Probably! But don't let it go to your head.” Alex shrugged. “Kara is a hopeless disaster who can't speak to crushes without being a creep, and Lena is tragically straight. I've been around her plenty, she's never even once glanced at a girl. Except Supergirl, who she seems lusty for, but Kara won't tell her, even though it could mean finally landing the girl she's into..”

Maggie listened but impatiently was sitting forward waiting excitedly for her chance to speak. At the pause, she blurted out: “Okay yes, but that's why I have something important to tell you!”

Alex set her drink down and crossed her arms, leaning back with a look of false bemusement. “Well then, go ahead. What is the thing? Please,  _ please _ don't share anything remotely smutty with me.”

“Ew, no.” Maggie pulled out her phone and scrolled to something. “Okay, I was checking my email, and I still sometimes get comments on my fics that come up, even though they are old, now. But I had more than a hundred new emails from the site I was on, which is obviously super unusual.” There was a pause while she found what she was looking for. “So I opened a few, and they are all talking about ‘the video’. I have all these different comments and messages asking me if I've seen the video, or asking me to write something new about the video.” She looked up for affirmation that Alex knew where this was going.

“Okay, so like those fan videos where they Photoshop Supergirl flying around and then two obviously different people holding hands? Kara showed me those. Kara showed me  _ so many _ of those.”

“No.” Maggie shook her head, looking rather serious. “This is Lenarg, anyway. I was never a supercorp shipper.”

“Right. You wrote the stuff about my actual human sister, that's right.” Alex still sounded playful but it took a bit too much of a sarcastic edge.

The science cop sighed and tapped her phone again, hitting a few more things, and then offered it to her girlfriend. “Just watch it. Try not to die.”

“This one better not have that picture of them getting coffee eight dozen times, like all the others I've already seen.” Alex set down her drink once again (which was nearly gone at this point), and hit the play button.

The first thing she noticed was that this video was taken from the inside of L-Corp, specifically Lena's office. Someone must have gone through a lot of trouble to get a video from inside such a secure facility.

The second thing she noticed was that it was really Kara and Lena, sitting on the couch, and this video was being taken in selfie mode. Maybe they were trying to start a YouTube channel or something? Both of them were saying hi, and who they were, and where the video was being taken.

“Is this my dorky sister's new talk show idea?” Alex asked aloud. Maggie shushed her immediately and gestured toward the phone.

Lena was explaining the purpose for the video; saying that they wanted to make something for their fans. Kara was giggling and… blushing? Her cheeks were definitely turning pink. If this was a talk show idea, then Kara was not going to be very good at interviewing her guests while blushing on camera.

Then Kara started explaining how Lenarg fans were a big reason that they had finally figured it out. The Lenarg fics were the thing that made them see what everyone else saw, between them.

Alex couldn't help it; she brought one hand up to cover her mouth sympathetically, out of embarrassment, wishing her little sister would just stop talking now. But the video kept going.

Lena was saying something now about supercorp. She said she was sorry to all the supercorp fans, but the chemistry between her and Supergirl was just physical. She said there was nothing deep enough with Supergirl to make a relationship work. Then she made kind of a sideways grin and whispered that she'd heard a rumour that Supergirl couldn't do “ _ that _ ” with a human, anyway.

Alex hit pause with a rapid pound of her index finger at the screen. “HOLY FUCK can we talk about this right now?!”

“No, play it!” Maggie waved her hands adamantly. “You have to play the entire thing! No, we can't! Just finish the video!”

Agent Danvers looked like she would explode with things to say, but she took a giant breath and hit play, again.

Now Lena was explaining why she and Kara were so great together. She was admitting that she always had unrequited feelings for Kara, since the first day they had met. She took responsibility for always wanting more from their friendship and admitted that's probably what the Lenarg fans were picking up on.

“And there's something else, that even Kara doesn't know.” Lena was saying, laughter bubbling out of her as if she were about to admit something outrageous. Kara prodded and then Lena confessed. “A lot of the pictures of the two of us, with hearts and kisses that you see all over Tumblr? I made those!”

Both women burst out into ridiculous laughter at this. Alex didn't want to smile, but she couldn't help the corners of her lips turning up just a bit at the sight of their joyful faces. Of course, Maggie was grinning widely as she listened to the video she had already watched just moments before.

Then Kara and Lena both went quiet and shared a look, as if to see if the other was ready. Kara said one last thing about how they were grateful to the Lenarg fans, so they wanted to give something back, and they also wanted all the Lenarg shippers to know this was real.

Then, seriously, Kara and Lena were kissing. Like, making out, kissing. It was seven seconds which was seven seconds  _ way _ too long for Alex to watch.

“Bleach my brain, please.” Alex said, as the video ended.

Maggie's grin was still plastered to her face, just as wide as before. “Don't you think you should call your little sister and congratulate her?”

“Ugh. Ew. Yeah I guess. More like I should send Lena a non-disclosure agreement! Or maybe I should tell her that she is being arrested for saying that Supergirl can't have sex with humans, and that's classified!” 

At this it was Maggie's turn to roll her eyes over the dramatics. “Please. I know you wanted little Kara to be happy, and you've been saying for weeks how you hoped the two of them would just figure it out!”

“I guess I'll let you make a big deal out of being right, since you're probably not used to it.” 

Both of them laughed, but Maggie took a playful swing at Alex's arm that intentionally came up short.

When the laughter died down, Alex handed the phone back and stretched her back. “So, do you wanna watch some Modern Family?”

“No! You need to call your sister!” Maggie insisted.

“Fine, fine!” 

The older Danvers sister did as she was told, calling to congratulate a giddy Kara on her new relationship and her ability to finally come through with Lena. Somehow she managed to only dance around how totally gross it was to have experienced seven seconds of their make out session within the conversation. 

Kara filled Alex in on some of the details; how both women were trying to send each other hints the entire time. Kara was sending fics to try and show Lena the romantic potential they had. And Lena was trying to make their time together mirror places and things they had done in fics, so Kara would associate romance with their friendly dates. It was crazy sweet, and disgusting, by Alex's view. But she listened as her little sister recapped how she had flown to Lena's balcony, changed clothes, and they had finally kissed for real. Alex didn't ask what the alternative might be to “kissing, for real”, because she did not want to know any more about their for real or not for real kissing.

Now, Kara explained, they were an official couple. Complete with real dates, which were basically exactly like all the dates they had been going on, before. 

“Well, I'm bummed you told all of the internet before you told me.” Alex admitted.

There was some rustling on the other line, and Alex heard Kara whispering something about how the video was already posted. Lena's voice was now audible, saying something about checking on it. Their conversation was muffled but Alex could make out both of them scrambling around and then Kara practically shouting “oh, Rao!”

Kara came back to the phone. “Hey Alex, uhm, I'm so sorry. That wasn't supposed to be posted yet. I was going to tell you, and Eliza… shit I have to call her right now! Bye- uh, say hi to Maggie! Bye!”

The line went silent, and Alex set her phone down and stared at it.

“How'd that go?” Maggie asked, genuinely interested.

“Well, they didn't mean to post the video until tomorrow, it sounds like. So that's kind of hilarious. I also got to hear the whole, drawn out recap of how they finally stopped being idiots and admitted their feelings. Ya know, pretty okay chat.”

Maggie grinned. “The supercorp shippers are going to be livid. They will totally not let this go. I was looking at Reddit while you were on the phone, and some of them are already posting theories that Kara is just a good friend, helping Lena to cover up her real relationship with Supergirl. You know, because they say it's too dangerous, or something.”

Alex groaned. “Please tell me that my sister is not going to post any more make out videos to try to prove them wrong.”

Maggie shrugged. “That's what Snapchat is for.”

“Hopefully Lenarg will be less exciting to them, now that it's canon.” Alex forecasted.

This prediction earned an immediate, unintentional burst of laughter from the other girl. “Uh, no, sorry. This will probably just spurn them on, even more. Making it canon will bring in new writers, too. That's what happened with Clexa, and fans are still writing for them.”

Alex reached out across the couch for her girlfriend's hands and took them softly. “Please, my love, if Clexa is fics about Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, just swear to me that you delete your browser history, and never read them while connected to my wifi.”

“What? No! It's not about them!”

Alex sighed an outward breath of relief. “Oh, phew. Seriously. Kara would die if someone were shipping the two of  _ them _ . That just cannot exist, anywhere.”

“Babe… never mind. Just promise me you won't Google it?”


End file.
